Promise You'll Let Go
by nodoubtrox
Summary: Sharpay turned to him, tears once again in her eyes. “I told you to promise me that you would let go. Promise you’ll let go, I said. But,” she sighed. “you never did. You never let it go. You never let me go.” AU Troypay, Ryella
1. Waiting For My Miracle

**Disclaimer: I don't own HSM. All copyrights go to Disney. **

_**Summary**__**: The hardest things to let go of are the ones that you hold most dear. But, those are also the ones that you most easily let slip away…AU Troypay, Ryella**_

**This story is **_**AU**_**! In it, Sharpay and Troy are best friends, and they are also friends with Ryan, Chad, and Taylor. Gabriella…well, that'll be explained in the story. **

**I really like this idea, so I hope you guys like it to:)**

**Read and Review!!!**

_**Promise You'll Let Go**_

**Chapter 1: Waiting For My Miracle**

Sharpay Evans sat down at the edge of the river, taking off her sandals and letting her feet soak in the cool, clear water. The twenty-three year old beauty stared at the water rushing around next to her. She couldn't, she wouldn't, look up at what she originally came here to look at.

It had been a year since she had first found this spot. One year today. And every day Sharpay came back to it, never looking at what she was supposed to.

She sighed, hoping that it would all go away. Just then, her cell phone rang, throwing her out of her thoughts.

"Hello?" Sharpay asked solemnly.

"Sharpay Evans? Shar? Is that you?" Sharpay would recognize that voice anywhere, even after five years of not hearing it.

"Ryan??? Oh my god, is this really you? How did you get this number?" Sharpay asked, uncertainly. _I left Albuquerque _five years agoSharpay thought. _I thought that no one remembered or looked for me_._ Especially Ryan…_

"Oh Sharpay, that doesn't matter right now. I'm afraid that I have some bad news." Sharpay's attention perked up at that. "Shar, our mother died from cancer a week ago. We've been trying to get your number. Can you come back for the funeral?"

Sharpay's breath got caught in her throat. _Mom,_ she thought sadly, feeling the tears coming. _You were the one of the reasons that I left. I'm so sorry that was the last thing I ever said to you…_

"I'll leave first thing tomorrow morning." Sharpay heard herself say.

"Thank you Shar. Everyone can't wait to see you."

Sharpay shifted uncertainly. "Who is everyone?"

"Me especially. And Gabriella; she really, really wants to apologize for what happened. And Tro-"

"Bye Ryan." She hung up.

Sharpay had always known that this day would come. Where she would have to go back and face Albuquerque, and everyone in it. _If this weren't for my mom I wouldn't go._ She said to herself.

She had to face her friends. Her breath got caught in her throat for the second time that day.

She would have to face Troy.

The tears then started to overflow over her eyes. "I'll be back. I promise I'll see you," Sharpay whispered to the river…and the person beneath it.

She turned and left the flowery grave behind.

.o.O.o.o.O.o.

**Five Years Before**

Sharpay spun around in her room, happy for the first time in months since Zeke, her first real boyfriend, had broken up with her. She felt so bad about ignoring Troy for that time…especially when he got a girlfriend…Gabriella. When she and Zeke had broken up, Troy and Gabriella were going steady, and were 'in love'. _Damn this stupid crush on Troy!_ Sharpay thought.

Sharpay was in twelfth grade and she was going to win the talent show.

Her phone rang and she knew it was Troy because of the ring tone. "Hey Troy!" Sharpay said cheerfully.

"Hey Shar. I just wanted to call and say sorry, but me and Gabs" Sharpay almost growled at his nickname for Gabriella, "can't come to the show. Her dad is in town, and we've visiting." Troy laughed, and Sharpay figured that Gabriella had said something funny, or kissed him. Maybe both.

"How long will he be in town?" Sharpay asked, grabbing a tissue to mop up the solitary tears rolling down her face.

"About a week."

"Then why can't you visit him tomorrow? Tonight's the only show, and I really wanted you to be there, Troy."

"Shar, how about I come over later tonight or tomorrow to celebrate it?" Sharpay sighed.

"You know what Troy? Don't friggin' come. Chad and Taylor's one year anniversary is on that night, and the two of them are canceling their celebrations because of me. Ryan is canceling his first date with Kelsi for this. Your parents and mine are coming. And my best friend in the whole world can't come because they have to see someone they can see every other day for the next week? I'm tired of begging for your company Troy." Sharpay started crying and hung up.

Sharpay was fidgeting backstage at the show. Ryan was trying to calm her nerves. Finally Sharpay was set to go on.

Troy burst in through the back door, hoping that he made it in time for Sharpay's performance. When he saw her get up on stage, he had trouble closing his mouth.

She was wearing a tube top dress. It was black, pink, and white striped, hugging her every curve, and opening up at the bottom. Troy noticed that she was wearing a necklace that he brought for her; it was silver and said _Sharpay_ in diamonds.

She walked to the center stage and said "This song is kind of old, but it really reminds me of one of my best friends" before the music started.

Troy recognized it immediately. It had always been one of their secrets, that this song was theirs.

_I set out on a narrow way many years ago  
Hoping I would find true love along the broken road  
But I got lost a time or two  
Wiped my brow and kept pushing through  
I couldn't see how every sign pointed straight to you  
Every long lost dream lead me to where you are  
Others who broke my heart they were like northern stars  
Pointing me on my way into your loving arms  
This much I know is true  
That God blessed the broken road  
That led me straight to you_

I think about the years I spent just passing through  
I'd like to have the time I lost and give it back to you  
But you just smile and take my hand  
You've been there you understand  
It's all part of a grander plan that is coming true

Every long lost dream lead me to where you are  
Others who broke my heart they were like northern stars  
Pointing me on my way into your loving arms  
This much I know is true  
That God blessed the broken road  
That led me straight to you

Sharpay stood back as the song ended and the auditorium burst into a standing ovation. Troy stood up and whistled, then screamed 'beautiful' even though she knew that he couldn't hear her.

Sharpay smiled, and then saw Troy in the audience. He had come!

After the performance, Sharpay and Troy decided to go out for a bit. Sharpay went up to Troy and hugged him tightly.

"I've missed you." Troy kissed her forehead.

"I've missed you too."

That night had begun perfectly…it would end by changing her life forever.

.o.O.o.o.O.o.

**Please review! Just something you should know: Remember all the events that occur in the past, because they are very important and will explain the story. **

**This chapter probably seems very confusing, but I promise that it will all make sense soon! Each chapter something new will be revealed that explains everything. **

**If you still don't get it, PM me and ask and REVIEW!**

**Thanks a bunch and review:)**

**Lots of love…ndrox**

** 333**


	2. Wildflowers

**Disclaimer: I don't own HSM. **

**thank you to everyone who reviewed! here's chapter 2!**

_**Promise You'll Let Go**_

**Chapter 2: Wildflowers**

Sharpay sat shaking on the plane. She lived in New York now, which was much different than Albuquerque.

"Miss, would you like something to eat or drink?" The stewardess asked Sharpay.

"Is it free?" Sharpay asked.

"Water is," the woman answered.

"Then I'll have water."

Sharpay always hated flying. She was usually sick for the whole flight. Especially the last flight. She barely got out of the bathroom the whole flight.

She didn't even know that her mother _had_ cancer, and she had died from it. When Sharpay had imagined going back to Albuquerque, she imagined going to her Mom and showing her that she had made it on her own. But this had changed everything.

She wondered what had happened to her friends; to TROY! Had they changed? What did they look like? Had Troy and Gabriella gotten married? Were Chad and Taylor still together? What about Ryan? _Whatever they're like, they're probably not missing me,_ Sharpay thought. _Especially Troy. After the fight that we had…_

**Five Years Ago**

Sharpay felt herself hyperventilating as she walked up to Troy's front doorway. "Sharpay, you can do this." She said to herself. "Just talk to him alone and tell him! He's your best friend, don't worry…" It was the day after graduation.

She was a nervous wreck when she knocked on the door. To make matters worse, Gabriella (Troy's girlfriend now) answered the door.

"What are you doing here Evans?" Gabriella asked conceitedly.

"Guess Montez." Sharpay replied, just as conceitedly.

Even a dog could tell that the two girls _hated_ each other with a passion. Too bad that they had one thing in common: Troy. So they had to behave.

"Troy! Sharpay's here!" Gabriella called, allowing Sharpay to step inside the house.

"Be right there!" Troy called from his room.

Sharpay suddenly felt nauseas. _I can't tell him. Especially not with _perfect Gabriella_ there. _Actually, the farther away Gabriella was the better.

Troy came down the stairs, saying 'hi', but not even daring to hug her in front of Gabriella. _It's always about how the bitch feels,_ Sharpay thought. _Our relationship now is only based on not making _Gabriella_ jealous. _

"Troy," Sharpay said, the panic evident in her voice, "I really, really, really need to talk to you." Troy saw that Sharpay was nearing a heart attack.

"Well, just say it Shar. I'm right here." Troy said, obviously not understanding what she meant. Sharpay motioned to Gabriella, looking near panic. "Shar, what's wrong? You're freakin' me out here."

"I need to tell you in private. Alone. With no Gabriella. This is extremely important." Sharpay said, almost in tears.

"Troy and I have no secrets at all. We tell each other everything. Sharpay, I'm not going anywhere." Gabriella insisted, putting her arm around Troy's shoulders, as if claiming him from her.

"Troy, do I really need to beg you?"

"Shar," Troy stood there for a moment, as if thinking of what to do. He looked from Sharpay to Gabriella. "Shar, I'm so sorry, but you'll have to say whatever you need to in front of Gabriella. Whenever I ever had to tell you anything, I had to say it in front of Zeke, didn't it?" **(A/N: the thing with Zeke will be explained later in this chapter!)**

"I can't Troy! I just can't!" Sharpay begging, a couple of tears rolling down her face, her deep brown eyes begging him to listen to her.

Troy looked at Gabriella, almost pleading with her to leave, but she stood her ground. "I'm sorry." Gabriella smiled triumphantly at Sharpay and sat down on the Bolton's sofa, staring at them.

"Troy, I'm your best friend!"

"Well, Gabriella is my girlfriend!" Troy insisted. "You always put Zeke before me." Sharpay started full fledged crying now. "Shar, whatever it is, you can tell me. I promise!" Troy tried to calm her down, seeing that she was almost desperate.

**That's** when Sharpay completely lost it.

"Troy, you have to make a choice. Right now." She said seriously. Troy looked at her eyes, completely terrified. "Me or Gabriella?"

Gabriella stood up in complete shock, waiting for his answer too.

Troy was confused beyond belief at Sharpay's question. He found himself in dread. _Does she want me? Is she so jealous that she's trying to break us up when I'm finally happy? After I was happy for her and Zeke? _Suddenly, Troy felt furious at her. _What's she playing at, trying to break us up? She never liked Gabriella. I can't believe that she would sink this low. _

"Gabriella." Troy said, his voice shaking a little from anger. Gabriella got up from the couch and hugged him from behind, putting her head on his shoulder.

"I guess I should've expected that." Sharpay whispered.

Sharpay ran out of the house.

"Wait, Sharpay!" Troy ran after her, but when he got to the street he almost fell down from shock.

Her car was filled with bags of her stuff. She didn't look back, but first she backed up a little and opened the window.

"I'm not sorry Troy! You'll find out one day, and I can tell you this: I WILL NOT BE SORRY FOR NOT TELLING YOU!!" Sharpay's body racked with sobs. "Just do me a favor, in memory of our past, okay? Promise you'll let go. Promise me that you'll let it go."

Troy never saw her again.

.o.O.o.o.O.o.

Sharpay couldn't actually believe that she was going to go back and face it all again.

.o.O.o.o.O.o.

**Five Years Ago, New Year's Eve**

Troy smiled contently in the kitchen of his house. His parents were away for tonight It was New Year's Eve of his senior year, and he invited Sharpay over to celebrate the festivities with him.

He was going to tell her he was in love with her.

Sort of.

He had a whole plan worked out.

Once again, sort of.

They would watch the ball drop at midnight. Once the clock struck twelve, he would kiss her. If she kissed back, then he would tell her that he loved her. If she didn't and got all freaked out, he would say that it was New Year's Eve, and everybody kissed at midnight.

Either way (preferably the whole 'kiss back and I love you too' way) he would end up knowing her feelings.

It was four in the afternoon, and Sharpay was due at four. She ran through the front door, and said "TROY!"

"Hey Shar! Happy about the new year or something!"

"Zeke just asked me out. It was sooo romantic, and I said yes! I HAVE A BOYFRIEND!"

Troy dropped the mug of hot chocolate that he was filling up for Sharpay. She looked at him in surprise as he picked up the pieces.

"I know you said that maybe we could have our own little party as our last New Year's Eve in high school, but Zeke is throwing this huge party and wants me to go with him. So, do you think that would be okay?" Sharpay said, giving him the 'please please please please please' face.

"Sure, whatever. Have fun." Troy said, throwing the shattered mug away.

"What, you wouldn't come?"

"Nah, I hate those parties."

"Please come Troy. Listen, I'll hang out with Zeke until like ten and then I promise it's all Troy time."

"And what time does the party start?" Troy asked, getting himself a cup of hot chocolate.

"Eight. So it's half Zeke, half you."

"Oh yeah. So it's half "I'll make out passionately with my boyfriend of one hour" time and half "Oh Troy, can I make out with my boyfriend next to you" time. Oh gee, I can't wait." Troy said sarcastically, drinking his hot chocolate.

"You know that's not me. And come on, please?"

"Fine, whatever. But give me permission to say I told you so, especially if you don't talk to me at all."

"Sure. But you won't have to. Now bye!" Sharpay said, walking out the door.

"What, you're not staying?"

Sharpay laughed. "Are you kidding? I have a party to get ready for!"

.o.O.o.o.O.o.

**Present Day**

Sharpay cried herself out of the plane. Not only was she going back to face everything, but after that she thought of _why_. Her mother was dead. **Dead**. Not in a coma, where she might wake up. She was lying in a coffin somewhere.

And Sharpay couldn't stop thinking about her last words to her mother.

"_You're a fucking jackass if you think I'll be back! You're a whore, a fucking whore, and you can't even help your own daughter. Well FUCK YOU!" Sharpay_ _screamed at her mother._

She sniffed and got into a cab with her bag.

"Albuquerque Cemetery, please." She said, closing her eyes and laying her head back.

Sharpay's eyes were red. She put on her favorite big black sunglasses to cover it, even though it looked like it was going to rain. All of the views that used to be so familiar to her were now foreign and distant. _Well, that's what five years of pain does to you¸_ she thought.

The driver stopped and she paid him. She carried her bag with her, dabbing her eyes. She was wearing a long, black slender dress. It was her mother's favorite on her.

People were arriving from the Funeral Home across the street. "Is the casket still open?" Sharpay asked in a low voice, hoping to disguise herself. The man she asked nodded, and so she ran as fast as she could in her heels to the home.

She saw the Bolton's coming out of the room, but avoided them. She ran in and saw that it was empty. She took off her sunglasses and walked to the front of the room.

She took her mom's hand in her own, her tears falling on her mother's dead body. "Mom," she whispered, unable to control the tears, kneeling down next to the coffin and sobbing uncontrollably. She laid her head on her mother's chest. Her hands stiffened when she didn't feel the heartbeat.

Her mother really was gone.

"Mom," Sharpay whispered, finally being able to talk again. "You always told me that…that" Sharpay wiped away the tears and took a deep breath. "You always told me that a person's brain doesn't stop hearing things until the coffin lid is closed. I thought I had missed that. So I hope you can hear me."

Sharpay wiped her eyes again and tried to regain her composure. Of course, it was useless, but it helped a little.

"Mom, I forgave you the minute that I hit New York. I missed you so much everyday. I would totally understand if you didn't miss me at all. I didn't even know you had cancer; I don't even know which kind!" Sharpay cried, touching her mother's hair.

"Mom, you showed me everything. After Dad left, you were my Mom and Dad, my hero and my savior. I looked up to you so much. I just can't believe that you're not alive to hear this." Sharpay's face fell even more. "I wanted you to meet her so bad. And she's dead too! But at least you _can_ meet her now.

"You're in a better place than this fucking hell now Mom. I wish that I had a better reason to come back, rather than this. But Mom, I hope that you know that I have loved you forever, I always have and I always will. You taught me how to be a good person. I didn't appreciate you enough and I didn't thank you enough for being such an amazing person. Mom, I love you so much." Sharpay cried into her mother's chest. She kissed both of her cheeks and her forehead, and then looked up. "I love you." A breeze went through the room, and she could've sworn it sounded like "I love you too". But that was just her imagination, she thought.

She left the room and went back to the cemetery.

.o.O.o.o.O.o.

Sharpay went to the seats in the cemetery. She noticed that the man she had talked to was in the first row. She saw her aunts and uncles and cousins. She saw the Bolton's, also in the first row. Ryan seemed to be consoling that same man. With a jolt, she saw Gabriella holding Ryan's hand. She noticed that Chad and Taylor were both missing.

Just then her cousin Victoria turned around and recognized her immediately. She tapped Sharpay's aunt and uncle on the shoulder, who tapped the man. He turned around, and so did Ryan. Then everyone added two plus two and realized who she was.

Troy gasped when he saw her. Sharpay noticed that Ryan had a strong grip on his shoulder, keeping him in place, just so he wouldn't run to her.

People freed the way for her. She went up to Ryan, and cried on his shoulder.

"Shar, you look beautiful."

"No I don't. It's just amazing to see you!" Sharpay sat down in between Ryan and the man and sat in the ceremony, crying hysterically on Ryan's shoulder the whole time.

"Shar," Ryan said, hugging her tightly. "Our mother didn't tell anyone much about what happened and why you left, but she regretted it so much."

"We'll talk later, okay?" Sharpay said.

After the ceremony, people started walking away. Troy couldn't believe what Sharpay looked like. _Like an angel_, Troy thought. _Like a beautiful angel_.

"I can't believe you did that to your mother!" A woman, their mother's sister, screamed at Sharpay. "Did you know she had cancer? It broke her heart!"

"You don't know what happened, leave the poor girl…woman alone!" Ryan whispered back, and she and her husband backed away.

Whatever she had said, it had broken Sharpay. Troy had never seen Sharpay so upset in his life. He wanted to go and hug her, and apologize for the fight.

When she left, Troy reasoned that in a week at most she would be back. He imagined her coming to his house, them both apologizing. He thought that they would be married by now.

Then the first week past. Then the first month. After the first year, Troy could hardly handle the fact that she was actually gone. He searched for her for two years after she left.

He had lost her because of a stupid answer to her question.

"Sharpay," Ryan said. "This man," she said, motioning to the man who sat next to Sharpay, "was our mother's second husband. They married two years after you left. She almost didn't get married because you weren't there, but they were happy. Sharpay then turned and hugged the man. She just hugged him. They could talk later (and no, this is not an abuse story:) just to clear things up :D).

Sharpay turned and saw Gabriella holding hands with Ryan and wearing an engagement ring.

"You don't need to hide your relationship with Troy anymore Gabriella. It's been five years."

Gabriella smiled sheepishly. "Five years can change a lot of things Sharpay. I'm not engaged to Troy. I'm engaged to and in love with your brother." Ryan looked at Sharpay for approval. Sharpay nodded, and embraced Gabriella.

Sharpay hugged Troy politely. Not even friendly. Just politely.

_Gabriella_ had gotten a warmer hug than he had.

"I'm so sorry Shar," he said, not knowing what to say to her.

"Thanks Troy." She said, super quietly. Then she turned to hug Ryan again, crying on his shoulder.

She still hadn't forgiven him.

.o.O.o.o.O.o.

**Second chapter complete! Reviews please!**

**Please review! Thanks!**


	3. Til We’re Not Strangers Anymore

**Disclaimer: I don't own HSM. **

**Not much to say, except thanks for reading, and please review!!!!**

_**Promise You'll Let Go**_

**Chapter 3: Til We're Not Strangers Anymore**

**One Year Ago**

Sharpay cried furiously into her pillow, wishing that it would all end. The sky was thundering and lightning, as if it was feeling her immense pain. She screamed at the top of her lungs, not caring what anyone would think, until she could hardly breathe. She was in pain. So much never-ending pain.

Sharpay's migraine was tremendous, and she couldn't remember anything from the past couple of days except for…her. How badly she wanted to forget her, erase her memories of her for a minute, anything to get out of this pain.

She burned almost all of her pictures and videos, keeping precious few; it didn't do anything.

Nothing seemed to work for Sharpay. She had taken four sleeping pills, only to wake up thirty seven hours later with more pain than before. Then she tried to drink herself unconscious, but that didn't work either. Nothing did.

She cried and crawled her way to her bathroom. She grabbed her razor, and crawled back to her bed. If she could start thinking for a minute…no, that was impossible for her now.

She put a picture of her into her lap and slit her right wrist. The blood ran red and thick, almost as if it didn't want to come out. She cut it again, this time deeper, and then it poured on like a faucet. Sharpay felt so tired, but by the time she fell asleep, the pain was still there…and she was still crying.

**Present Day**

Sharpay stretched in Ryan's bed. It was five in the afternoon; Ryan had brought her home and insisted that they would talk later.

Sharpay got up and walked to the kitchen in time to see Ryan putting chocolate chip pancakes onto a plate…her favorite.

Before walking in, Sharpay aligned her bracelet on her right wrist to cover the scar. She straightened her outfit and walked in.

Sharpay smiled as best as she could, entering the kitchen. Sharpay ran up to Ryan and hugged him tightly.

"Shar, we've missed you so much, especially Tro…" Ryan said, stopping and hugging Sharpay.

"Later, okay?" Sharpay said about Troy's mention, sitting down and taking a pancake.

"So Shar …our mom told me." Ryan started. Sharpay sat up, rigid and scared, already knowing the question. "Why didn't you bring…"

"No," Sharpay said, feeling a tear escaping her eye. "I'm trying not to think about it." She felt her scar and kept eating.

Ryan's eyes widened, sensing Sharpay's pain. He nodded her head and took a pancake as well.

"How have you been doing?" Sharpay asked, looking up at her after the uncomfortable silence.

"Not to shabby." Ryan smiled a little. "Happier news first: Gabriella and I are engaged. We started dating about a year after you left. She felt terrible about you leaving; she's really a really great girl. Bad news next: our mom stayed here in her last month. We hired a nurse, but she pissed us off, so…we took care of her. She was in bed in pain for a year before passing…"

"A year?" Sharpay said, feeling her eyes tear again. "Why didn't you call me then?"

"I wanted to. I didn't have a number."

Sharpay looked confused. "But you called me to come here."

"It was in our mom' house. The bottom drawer of her dresser." Ryan looked up at Sharpay. "You can cry Shar." Sharpay then started sobbing, and leaned her head on Ryan's shoulder. "What kind of cancer?"

"Skin cancer. Melanoma (sp?)." Sharpay nodded.

Sharpay cried openly on Ryan's shoulder again.

"I am _so_ beyond tired of funerals!"

**Present Day (Later that Day)**

Sharpay was back in Ryan's room, staring at the wall. Absorbing everything.

Troy stood outside of the door, wondering if he should knock or just go in. He wanted to apologize for not picking her, for the fight, for everything. To hug her and talk to her.

To see if she was still into performing.

But she buried her mother mere hours ago, and _that_ made Troy even more nervous.

Ryan had told him to wait a couple of days to let her calm down and accept everything. But Sharpay might be leaving the next day. He had to do this now.

He knocked.

Sharpay came to the door. She opened it.

She was beautiful. He was gorgeous.

"Hey Shar."

"Troy! I wasn't expecting you." She didn't slam the door in his face like he thought she would; that was a good sign.

She wasn't in the mood; he noticed. "And I know that it's not the best time, but I need to talk to you before you go." Troy said quietly.

"Yeah, sure." Sharpay said. "Let's go for a walk." Sharpay walked down the stairs in front of Troy, wiping her eyes. "Bye Ryan." Sharpay said, nodding to him.

They walked in awkward silence for a couple of minutes, and Troy realized it was up to him to start a conversation. He really missed the old Sharpay …his Shar.

"How have you been?" He asked fast.

"Terrible. But okay, not completely terrible. But that's for another time." She looked him in the eyes. "You?"

"I haven't changed much since you left." Troy shifted uncomfortably. "Did you go to college?"

"Yeah. I majored in the arts. Right now, though, I work as the singer for a local fancy restaurant in my town. Have you?" Sharpay looked down at the ground. She was still in her funeral outfit. Troy noticed she never mentioned the town's or state's name.

"You got your dream. Soon you'll be the next Gwen Stefani. I'm the coach for the boy's basketball team for the University of New Mexico."

"Just like high school." Sharpay said softly. Troy caught it.

"You wanna go back and get Ryan and Gabriella? Or do you wanna stop by Chad or Taylor's and ask them to walk with us?" Sharpay asked.

"Chad and Taylor," Troy whispered to himself softly. He looked up at Sharpay. "They're on their honeymoon now."

"WHAT?" Sharpay asked. She wasn't expecting _that_.

"They're in Paris. Taylor really wanted you as a bridesmaid." Then Sharpay felt guilty.

"You're not married, right?" Troy asked, suddenly getting very nervous.

"Are you serious? I've got my career to work on first." Sharpay replied. Troy felt extremely better.

"But you have a boyfriend, right?" Troy asked solemnly.

"No, I don't. I'm a completely independent woman." Sharpay said, her face dropping a little. _Or at least I have been for year…_

"You never got a boyfriend?"

"Not one." Sharpay said. "What about you?"

"Not since Gabriella."

"I'm kind of confused. What happened with Gabriella? Apparently she was better than me; why'd you guys break up?" Troy didn't miss the mention of his choice.

"Gabriella? We…" Troy looked down. "We broke up a week after you left."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Sharpay said, beaming. "Why?"

"I was looking for you. She thought it was her fault that you left, but I knew it was mine. She and Ryan got closer, and then got together. I thought you would come back. I'm a bachelor now." He laughed.

Sharpay looked at him for a minute. "You've grown up. You're not 'Lunkhead Basketball _Boy_ Troy Bolton' anymore," Sharpay laughed. "You're 'Lunkhead Basketball _Man _Troy Bolton' now. And I can't believe that you're so much taller than me!"

"You grew up too," Troy said, looking over her body.

Sharpay covered her chest. "Still love to embarrass me?"

"Old habits die hard. Even after five years." He put an arm around her shoulders. "Where are you living now?"

Sharpay debated for a long time on whether to tell him or not. Finally she decided to. "New York."

"That's all the way across the country! That's why I didn't find you!" Troy said, extremely surprised and shocked.

"Being found was _not_ something I wanted to happen."

"Why not Shar?" Troy asked, exasperated and frustrated. They were heading for the lake. When Sharpay stayed silent, he threw a big rock into the lake; it splashed loudly. "How did you manage to live, to survive, on your own?"

"It's not a happy story." Sharpay said. She knew she would have to tell it. She would just leave out to most important part.

"I don't care. I want to know. You owe me that much." Troy and Sharpay sat down, and he grasped her hand.

"I went to the bank right after our fight and got all of my money. That was actually a lot, $87,000. I needed something for college. I drove until I reached New York City." She sighed in frustration, but decided to go on.

"I spent a week there. I stripped twice on every one of those seven days, which is not something I'm proud of." Troy squeezed her hand, and willed her to go on; knowing that he was there made her feel better and she went on. "But, I got three thousand more dollars, so I had $90,000. Then I moved to a town outside of New York City, somewhere on Long Island, Great Neck and got a small apartment. It had a small kitchen, with a living room, which was also my bedroom, and a small bathroom. Then I worked waitressing at night for a while."

Troy looked so serious at that moment. He was staring at the lake so hard that it frightened Sharpay. She stopped speaking, waiting for his reaction.

"Go on, Shar. What happened after that?"

"I went to a small university. The girl next door to me was really nice, and she did a lot of stuff for me. I went to school right away, and worked really hard. I graduated when I was twenty one. I changed restaurants with waitressing when I was 19. I worked at the small coffeehouse when I was 18 and then worked at one of those fancy-smancy restaurants, which was a lot better. Tip-page was better there. That girl really helped me, but she moved to Europe when I was 21. I was one my own again. All alone."

"You were alone all this time? Nobody helped you?" asked Troy, still not looking at her.

"I was used to it Troy. You were with Gabriella."

"You were with Zeke. You couldn't expect me to dump Gabriella just because you got dumped."

"Then I got the job as a singer in a restaurant when I was 21." Sharpay continued, ignoring him. They pay was great, and I got a bigger apartment. It's two bedroom. Really nice. My life is okay. God has been smiling on me, keeping me alive." Sharpay finished her story with a smile.

"Are you happy?" Troy asked quietly after a while.

"I can't say that. I have my happy moments. They don't last forever, but that's normal, right?"

"Why didn't you stay? Was it so immensely bad that you couldn't stay and get help so you didn't have to go through all of those bad things?"

"That would have been impossible." Sharpay said.

"Sharpay …" Troy asked, turning and looking Sharpay in the eye. Sharpay couldn't breathe. "What would you have done if I had chosen you instead of Gabriella?"

.o.O.o.o.O.o.

**End of chapter three!!! Ooo, what's she gonna say!**

**Please review!!!!!!!!!!**

**ndrox**


	4. Thunder Road

**disclaimer: don't own it. **

**i really hope that you're liking this story! i'm loving writing it! **

_**Promise You'll Let Go**_

**Chapter 4: Thunder Road**

**Five Years Ago**

Sharpay went all the way across town; she couldn't take any chances. She walked into the drugstore that had scared her all through childhood and brought what she needed to before walking out. Five things, all the same; maybe one would help. One would prove her awful suspicions wrong.

She walked into the bathroom and locked the door. All five test: 2 minute results. Two minutes had never seemed so long before. Her mother was in the room down the hall from her; she had to be careful.

One minute passed.

Another minute passed. She glanced at the tests.

**Present Day**

Before Sharpay had gone for a walk with Troy, she had stopped somewhere else: her mother's house. The man who was her mother's husband wasn't there, so she let herself in; thankfully it was unlocked.

She quietly walked into the foyer and saw everything all over the floor. It was horribly messy; apparently that man hadn't cleaned it up since she died. Sharpay couldn't blame him.

Sharpay walked into the living room. Other than a new TV and end table, it was all the same. So was the kitchen.

She went into her mother's bedroom and looked in. Everything was different: there was a new bed, and Sharpay noticed that the bathroom had been redone. Sharpay remembered Ryan saying that their mother had her phone number at the bottom of her dresser; so she went to the dresser to see what else she had.

She went through all of them first. Sharpay realized that her mother had told Ryan about why she had left and that her mother didn't know what else had happened a year ago. She looked at everything her mother had.

She was shocked.

It was a police file on everything about her; apparently her mother had hired an investigator to find out where Sharpay had gone and simply hadn't looked for her. If Sharpay had been upset about her mom dying, it was no where near as upset as she was now.

Her mother had known all this time where she was and never did anything about it. She could've made up with her. Everything would have been easier. Silently, she put the file back in the drawer and started crying. She had one more room to go in: her's.

Sharpay realized that her door was securely locked. She tried opening it every which way, and realized that her mother didn't want anyone in there. Finally she got mad, and punched the door as hard as she could. To her surprise, it fell in.

Every single thing was the same. Everything was in its place. Her iPod was still connected to the wall, charging; the unfinished resume she was working on was still on her desk; the empty boxes and tests were on the floor. Her mirror was still broken; everything from her vanity was still knocked down. It was the same exact room, except for the layer of dust covering everything. She picked up a shard of the mirror and looked at her reflection, realizing how horrible she must look. She went to the pictures on her nightstand; there were eleven. One of her and her mother. One of her and Kelsi, with Ryan behind them. Three of her and Ryan. One of her, Ryan, and Troy from graduation. And five various ones of her and Troy. It was scary to look at them.

Everything in her room was the same as it had been five years ago; but everything had changed.

**Five Years Ago**

"SHARPAY EVANS!" She gasped, realizing that she had left the boxes on her bed. Her mother came storming into the bathroom. Mrs. Evans threw one of the empty boxes at her.

"You slut! I spent 17 years of my life raising you and your brother, most of it on my own, for you to go and be a tramp!" Mrs. Evans screamed at her, throwing the other boxes into the air. Sharpay shrunk down.

"Mom, please listen to me, I can explain," but Sharpay never got to finish. Her mom threw her vanity mirror on the ground and it shattered. Then Mrs. Evans knocked everything off of Sharpay's vanity.

Then Mrs. Evans ran back into the bathroom and screamed bloody murder.

Every single test was positive.

"Holy shit!" Mrs. Evans screamed. "This is how I raised you?!? To be a fucking tramp and do this! Not anymore, get out, get out! I'm going downstairs, and if you're in this fucking house in 15 minutes I'm calling the police on you!" Mrs. Evans's face was red and she was screaming so loud that Sharpay was afraid her eardrums would burst.

"You're my mother; you can't just kick me out!"

"I am! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

"You're a fucking jackass if you think I'll be back! You're a whore, a fucking whore, and you can't even help your own daughter. Well FUCK YOU!"

Sharpay slammed the door in her mother's face, and grabbed a suitcase. In 2 minutes her favorite things had been stuffed into two suitcases, and she climbed out the window.

She was going to Troy's house; he would help her.

But in the end that day, he would choose Gabriella.

**Present Day**

Troy waited anxiously for Sharpay to answer him. What would she have done if he had picked her?

"I would have asked you to come." Was Sharpay's simple answer. "But I'm glad that we got separated. I'm glad that you didn't choose me. Everything would be different, and I like the way things are. I learned to live without you once; I couldn't do it again."

Troy was slightly mad that she was happy that he hadn't chosen her. "You're happy that I didn't choose you?"

"I'm happy now." Sharpay replied. "I was utterly devastated then. I thought I was going to die. Thankfully, I developed into the woman I am today."

Troy paused for a moment before asking "Are you going back to New York?"

Sharpay looked at him strangely. "At most I'll stay here a week. It's just too…painful."

"Can I take you out for coffee?" Troy knew that he had less than a week to convince Sharpay to stay with him in Albuquerque.

"Troy, it's been five years. How can we pretend that everything is just normal again?" Sharpay was already thinking of other excuses, but decided just to be honest with him.

"The Shar I remember wouldn't care if it had been 50 years, 100 years! Where's that Shar now?" Troy asked, almost begging her to stay.

Sharpay felt more tears creep into her eyes and looked down. "That Sharpay has been dead for over five years."

"Bring her back from the dead then Shar. I miss her so much." Sharpay looked up at him and felt a couple of tears fall from her eyes.

_I will not be touched by your words_, she thought. _I will __**not**__ love you. I can't!_

"Then tell me why you had to leave. It can't have only been because of my question."

Sharpay decided to be honest, even though she knew it would crush Troy and confuse Troy and probably make him do something stupid.

"I was pregnant."

o.O.o.o.O.o.

**sooo...was that a shocker??? well, its definately a cliffe.**

**PLEASE REVIEW!!! i'll only update if i get at least 10 reviews for this chapter, so take ten seconds and review!!!**

**thanks for reading:)**


	5. Live Our Lies

**Disclaimer: don't own it. **

**I'm so happy about the number of reviews that I got! Thank you sooooo much!!!!! **

_**Promise You'll Let Go**_

**Chapter 5: Live Our Lies**

**Present Day**

Troy couldn't believe it; he honestly couldn't believe it.

After she had said that she had been pregnant, Sharpay had left Troy sitting on the edge of the lake, thinking about everything that she had said. Sharpay hadn't even said another word; she just got up and left.

_PREGNANT!?! _The word was scrambling around in Troy's mind. The words 'Sharpay' and 'pregnant' just didn't seem to fit together.

Whose child was it? Was it Zeke's? What is some random guy's? Why hadn't Ryan known about this? What if Ryan had known? Why hadn't Ryan told him? Why did she come to him? Was it a boy or a girl? When was it born?

Where was it now? Why wasn't it with Sharpay?

_She could've stayed_, Troy thought. _We would've definitely helped her through this, instead of leaving her to be pregnant and take care of a child alone and helpless_. _But was she really helpless? _Troy continued in his head. _She apparently did raise this child. Sharpay is a very able woman. _

_No, Sharpay _was_ a very able woman. _

Now Sharpay looked like she had been through hell and back thousands of times.

_Which, _Troy reasoned, _she probably had. _

Troy grabbed another stone and threw it across the lake. He felt someone sit beside him.

"She told you?"

Troy looked into Ryan's questioning eyes. "Yeah, she told me."

"How much?"

Troy looked back down. "Not much. Just that she was pregnant."

"Okay." Ryan seemed to want to know how much he could talk about.

"What else do _you_ know?" Troy asked suddenly looking up at him. Ryan shook his head.

"That is not my business to tell you. She'll probably tell you tonight. I think Shar is just giving you some reaction time."

Troy nodded. "Makes sense. I think I need that time. I want to know, but then again, I don't." He sighed. "I can pretend it isn't real if I don't know."

Ryan nodded. "That makes sense. Everyone wants to block unpleasant things from their mind, pretend that they aren't real."

Ryan stood up, and patted Troy on the back. "It _is_ real though, don't forget that."

o.O.o.o.O.o.

**Five Years Ago**

Zeke's New Year's Eve Party had barely started, and already Troy was regretting coming to it.

Every single one of his friends was here, but the only one he wanted to see was probably off making out with the party thrower.

_Stupid Sharpay, stupid Zeke_, Troy thought solemnly to himself.

The party was at Zeke's house. Troy was sitting in the corner of the backyard, underneath a tree. This was where Sharpay had said that they could meet at ten o'clock when he got here.

He looked at his watch: only one hour and fifty six minutes till Sharpay came back to him.

Troy leaned his head against the tree, and didn't even have any idea that he had fallen asleep till someone was shaking him awake.

He looked at his watch: nine forty five.

He looked up: Gabriella.

Gabriella sat down next to Troy and said "Not having too much fun either?"

Troy laughed. "No."

Gabriella looked unsure of her next sentence. "I saw Sharpay and Zeke making out before. I'm sorry."

"Why would you be sorry?" Troy asked.

"I like Ryan. A lot. Like, I think I'm in love with him." Gabriella sighed. "But he's with Kelsi." She looked up at Troy. "And you like Sharpay. Like, a lot. Like, you're totally in love with her. But she's with Zeke now." Gabriella gave Troy a weak smile. "How does she not realize that you love her? Or that she loves you too?"

Troy looked at Gabriella in shock. "Am I that obvious?"

Gabriella laughed. "Am I that observant?"

"I'm sorry about Ryan."

"I'm sorry about Sharpay."

Troy and Gabriella sat in silence for a while. But it was a peaceful silence.

"Gabi?"

"Yeah Troy?" Gabriella said, looking up at him.

Troy stole a glance at his watch; it read eleven o'clock. Sharpay had obviously forgotten about him. "We're both here alone. The people that we're in love with are in love with other people. Do you wanna dance?" Troy laughed. Gabriella did too.

"Why not?"

The two dancing quietly underneath the tree for a while in silence, once again. Finally they heard a countdown.

"THIRTY, TWENTY NINE, TWENTY EIGHT, TWENTY SEVEN,"

"Twenty six, twenty five, twenty four," Gabriella continued.

"Twenty three, twenty two, twenty one," Troy continued. They stopped dancing and looked at each other.

"Twenty," they both whispered.

"Ryan isn't here. Sharpay isn't here. And I still wanna kiss at midnight." Troy joked around.

"It wouldn't mean a thing," Gabriella whispered back.

"TEN, NINE, EIGHT, SEVEN, SIX," The chanting got louder. Troy could see Zeke and Sharpay already kissing.

"Not a thing," Troy whispered back.

"Five," Gabriella whispered.

"Four," Troy leaned closer.

"Three," Gabriella said, very softly.

"Two," they could feel each other's breath on their faces.

_Ryan, _Gabriella thought.

_Sharpay_, Troy thought.

"ONE! HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

And Troy and Gabriella kissed.

They were both in pain; they both needed somebody.

So they turned to each other. And that kiss _did_ end up meaning something.

o.O.o.o.O.o.

**Present Day**

Troy knocked on Sharpay's door again. He heard a whispered "come in" and opened the door.

Sharpay was sitting on the floor, looking at five different photographs.

Two were of Sharpay and a little girl. Three others were of just the girl.

"She is absolutely beautiful. She looks so much like you, but with brown hair. And her eyes are different."

Sharpay looked up and nodded at Troy. He sat down next to her and looked at the pictures.

She really did look like a little Sharpay. She had the same face, the same body structure. But her hair was more brown. Not that brown, but not dirty blonde. _Like my hair color_, Troy thought. And her eyes were totally different. Blue, but still just as deep as Sharpay's.

"Her name wa- is Aurora." Sharpay explained. "Aurora means 'dawn' and she was the only reason I got up in the morning, so I thought it was fitting."

"Tell me about the pregnancy."

"The pregnancy was nothing different than normal pregnancies; at least, that's what my doctor told me. I remember when my water broke though. It was so scary! I was in my apartment, watching House. Then I suddenly felt wet…down there. At first I thought it was a miscarriage, and that if I looked down I would see the blood. But I was nine months along, and looked down and realized that my water had broken. So I got in my care and drove to the hospital.

"God, people who say that getting kicked in the nuts is more painful than labor have obviously never pushed a living person out of their vagina." Sharpay laughed; the musical sound filled the room. Troy could tell it had been a long time since she had laughed for real. Sharpay seemed to realize this too, and she immediately stopped laughing.

"Who's the father?" Troy asked suddenly.

Sharpay laughed. "We meet up after five years, and talk for what, an hour, maybe two? And you think I'm going to tell you _that_? Do you remember me at all? Ice Queen, remember?" Sharpay laughed humorlessly this time. "But it doesn't matter. I don't even know him anymore. He's…a totally different person than the person that I knew and loved."

There was another awkward silence.

"Did you have anyone there to hold your hand?" Troy whispered.

"No." Troy felt like he couldn't look Sharpay in the eye

"Aurora w- is" Sharpay stuttered a little, "the only point of my life. The sole reason for my existence. I had no reason to live without her." Sharpay wiped tears away again. "God, I miss her so much."

"You'll see her once you go back to New York. Who's watching her?"

"My…neighbor is watching her for me. I'm going to go and get her like, the second I get back; I can barely stand to live without her." Then, more quietly, Sharpay whispered "God, I can't wait to see her again. I…" Sharpay looked like she was going to start crying again "I miss her so much." The last sentence was barely audible.

"You've only been gone a day, Shar."

"You've obviously never left your baby behind."

It suddenly got very quiet.

"She has brown hair and piercing blue eyes. I swear, her eyes can see through the window to your soul. She is always thinking, constantly; there is never a time when she doesn't have a question to ask. She loves to sing and dance. She takes a dance class. She had the cutest little voice you could ever imagine. You'll never forget it once you hear it. She says that she wants to grow up and be a performer, just like her mommy. She loves to look at the old pictures from when I was little and I used to take dance, and be in talent shows. I think that she's in love with Ryan too; she loves to look at his pictures. She says that…he could be her twin too. She is spectacular." Sharpay said emotionally.

Troy grabbed her hand subconsciously, and Sharpay didn't stop him. They sat in silence for a little while.

"That's why." Troy whispered suddenly to himself. Sharpay looked up from her spot on the floor to stare into Troy's eyes.

"What's why?"

"You told me…that day that you left. You told me that you wouldn't regret it. You wouldn't regret not telling me something." Troy looked up. "Do you regret it? Do you regret not telling me?"

"No, I don't. I'm very happy that I didn't tell you. But I'm mad about something." Sharpay said carefully, as if testing her own limits.

Troy was disappointed that she didn't regret it, but also curious.

"What are you mad about now?"

"What else did I tell you?"

"What?" Troy asked, confused.

Sharpay turned to him, tears once again in her eyes. "I told you to promise me that you would let go. Promise you'll let go, I said. But," she sighed. "you never did. You never let it go. You never let _me_ go."

Troy had no idea how to respond to something like that.

So Troy went back to stroking Sharpay's wrist. He moved her bracelet out of the way, and suddenly stopped.

"Why'd you stop?" Sharpay asked softly. Then she looked down too.

Troy looked into her eyes, anger quickly overtaking him.

"Where did you get that scar from?"

"I fell," Sharpay stuttered. Troy was furious.

"Why did you try to kill yourself?" Troy whispered furiously.

"Why would you jump to that conclusion?"

Troy couldn't even look at her. "Because it's true, isn't it?"

Sharpay looked away, ashamed. "Yes, it is."

o.O.o.o.O.o.

**ooo, cliffy again! Review please! I wrote this chapter as fast as I could because I was so happy with the number of reviews that I got, so please review again!!!!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**-amanda :)**


	6. Distant Memories

**disclaimer: don't own it. **

**not much to say but thanks for continuing to read this story, and please review!**

**Chapter Six: Distant Memories**

**One Year Ago**

Sharpay had thought that the whole 'when you die you see the white light' thing was fake.

Until now.

_I'm dead_, Sharpay thought. _I'm dead...why do I still feel pain?_

Then the light went out, and Sharpay tried to sit up.

She was on a hospital bed. Her arm was covered in bandages.

God, had she really tried to kill herself?

_Yes, yes I had. _

"Dearie, you are awake, thank the Lord. For a while back there we thought you were never going to wake up."

_Why didn't you people let me die?! _Sharpay thought. _I wanted to; I want to now!_

"What happened?" Sharpay asked, surprised at how groggy her voice sounded; she was on painkillers.

"Honey, you tried to kill yourself, didn't you?" Sharpay looked into the face of a pretty, young African American nurse. She smiled warmly at Sharpay, and Sharpay nodded.

"It didn't work." Was Sharpay's vocal reply.

"I can't deal with this pain anymore." Sharpay practically screamed to the nurse. "I can't take it! I took sleeping pills, I drank myself to sleep. I cut my wrists open, I saw the blood! Why won't God let me die?" Sharpay didn't even notice the tears anymore as they fell; it seemed to her that they never stopped falling from her eyes.

"You don't need to die. Think of everything you can still do."

"I can do _nothing_." She spat the words out. Then Sharpay tried to get up. The nurse ran up to her.

"I have to pee." Sharpay said, smiling a little through her tears. The nurse nodded. "I'll be waiting here to check your stats and change your bandages when you come back, okay?" Sharpay nodded.

Sharpay ran to the bathroom and quickly tried to lock the door. She saw it didn't have a lock.

_There has to be something sharp in here, something that will finish the job_, Sharpay looked around the bathroom. There were no razors. There were no pens, pencils. There was nothing sharp.

The sink was curved. Sharpay eyed the mirror, and tried to rip it off the wall, but it was not only nailed but glued.

_God, these people take a lot of precautions._ Sharpay thought miserably. She walked out of the bathroom after peeing and laid back on the bed.

"Time to change those bandages again." The nurse (whose nametag read 'Kathy') said. Sharpay looked down as Kathy undid the bandages.

Sharpay almost passed out at the sight.

"Most of these won't leave scars." Kathy whispered to Sharpay.

"Which ones will?" Sharpay asked.

Kathy pointed to a crescent shaped one right on her right wrist. It looked extremely deep. "Other ones might scar as well, but that one definitely will."

Kathy cleaned the cuts (and Sharpay felt like screaming in pain, but she held it in), and re-bandaged Sharpay.

"You'll have to go to therapy, you know." Kathy said. Sharpay nodded; she had been waiting for this to come up.

"It won't help. At all."

"I know. But you have to try. Try for her." Sharpay looked Kathy in the eyes, and immediately felt safer than she had back at home. Sharpay nodded.

"Trying isn't so bad… but it still won't work." Then Sharpay felt drowsiness seep in all around her, and she fell asleep on the hospital bed.

o.O.o.o.O.o.

**Present Day**

"_Why did you try to kill yourself?" Troy whispered furiously. _

"_Why would you jump to that conclusion?"_

_Troy couldn't even look at her. "Because it's true, isn't it?"_

_Sharpay looked away, ashamed. "Yes, it is."_

"Why? Why would you do that?"

"God Troy, I've already told you too much about me. If you hadn't let me go then, you are sure as hell not going to let me go now, are you?"

"Tell me." Troy was furious. "You tried to end your own life. What could have warranted that kind of behavior?"

"Troy, you aren't my mother." Sharpay snapped. Then she realized what she had said. _My mother is dead. My mother is dead. My mother is dead. That is why I am here. I am leaving as soon as I can_, Sharpay decided.

Troy's expression softened. "You have something to live for. Why would you give up on Aurora?"

Sharpay's eyes filled with tears again. "It was stupid, okay? It was extremely asinine, and I still can hardly believe that I did it. I guess I figured it wouldn't work. Nothing else had worked."

Troy's head snapped up. "What else did you try?" He was fuming again.

Sharpay decided in a split second not to lie. "Sleeping pills was first. Then drinking. God, all I had was the same pain plus the pain of a hangover. Then I was lost. I was in pain. What could I do? I had the power to stop it, so I tried."

"Tried to end your life!"

"You weren't in my position! You were not there! Do **not** judge me on those actions! You have absolutely no fucking idea what led up to them. Do **not** try to act like you know me anymore!" Sharpay screamed.

"Where is my Sharpay?"

"I already told you. She has been dead for five years."

"Resurrect her. Please," Troy begged. Sharpay ignored him, and looked at the strange looking scar.

Troy outlined the scar with his finger. He touched it lightly, and then pressed down on it more. Not so that it would cause pain, but so that she would feel it. She hissed, and then got up.

She went to the computer, and signed onto the internet. Troy didn't look up to see what she was doing.

Twenty minutes later, she signed off.

"I can't stay here. I thought that I could, but I can't. I can't stay. I'm so sorry." Sharpay grabbed her bag (which was still not opened) and went to the door of her room. Troy stood, immobilized, by her door. He heard Sharpay saying goodbye to Ryan and Gabriella. He heard the door closing.

He ran down the stairs and out the door just as Sharpay was getting into Ryan's car with Ryan driving. Troy banged on the windows fiercely.

"I need to talk to you Shar!" Troy screamed.

Sharpay was crying. Again. She shook her head, and turned to Ryan to say something. Ryan gave Troy a sympathetic look, and sped away.

Troy could only look at where Sharpay had been seconds before.

"Sharpay Evans, I'm never giving up on you again." Troy vowed.

o.O.o.o.O.o.

**this chapter was kind of short i think, but please review anyways!**

**the more of you that review, the faster that i'll update!**

**thanks for reading!**

**amanda**


	7. All Revved Up With No Place to Go

**disclaimer: don't own it. **

**thank for sticking with this story! review please!**

**C****hapter Seven: All Revved Up With No Place to Go**

**Present Day**

Troy was still sitting on Ryan's front lawn when he got back six hours later.

"I'm sorry man. She said she had to leave. She's on the next flight to New York. But," Ryan said, smiling and handing Troy a two pieces of paper, "That might make you feel a little better."

The first piece of paper was a plane ticket to New York later that night. The second had a street address (this address is totally made up, so don't think that its real; I don't even know if there are apartments in Great Neck, I just searched and picked that name lol): 5892 Radford Blvd, Great Neck, NY. Apartment B, second floor. It also had a phone number (once again, totally made up): 715-113-2896.

"Go and find her on your own." Ryan told Troy. "Go and pack a bag, and come back here and I'll drive you to the airport.

"What?" Troy asked.

"Find her! Go and get her back!"

Troy just nodded, and ran the couple of blocks to his house. He threw a pair of jeans, a shirt, some boxers, a hat, a toothbrush, deodorant, and a hairbrush into a duffel bag (along with his credit card and some cash) and went back to Ryan's house. Ryan and Gabriella were waiting to take him to the airport.

He was on his way. _I'm not letting you go Shar. At least… not without a fight._

**Present Day (with Sharpay) **

It was a couple of hours later in New York than in Albuquerque, and Sharpay was dead tired. She just threw her bag down, not even bothering to unpack, and walked into her bedroom. She sighed as she flopped onto her bed.

_I can't believe I feel bad about leaving_, Sharpay thought to herself. _I said I was only staying for a few days; so I just cut it down. I can't get reattached to everything there, I just can't. This is all so confusing! _But Sharpay was already drifting to unconsciousness.

Sharpay thought of the river. _I'll be there to see you tomorrow, I promise_…

**Present Day (with Troy)**

It was six in the morning when Troy stepped off in JFK Airport. He didn't have any luggage besides his carry on, so he just went to catch a cab.

He gave the cab driver the address, and leaned his head back against the seat. He couldn't believe that he was chasing after Sharpay after all these years.

As he got off at the apartment building some time later at seven fifteen, Troy just stared at the door. He didn't want to just go up to her apartment; he didn't want to be _that_ forward. So he just decided to wait in the lobby of the building until she came out.

He sat down in a chair to wait. He didn't have to wait long; at almost eight o'clock she came out. Troy would have recognized her anywhere.

But she was dressed very differently than he remembered. She had been in a funeral outfit before; but Troy still expected that she would still be her flashy self. But she wasn't. A simple pair of blue jeans, blue converse, and a plain white shirt was all that she wore under a simple black jacket.

_Where is the pink? Where are the rhinestones? Where is the Sharpay I used to know?_ Troy thought to himself.

Troy didn't have the guts to go up and talk to her, so he decided to follow her instead to see where she went.

But then Troy realized something else. Where was Aurora, her daughter? He remembered her saying _"My…neighbor is watching her for me. I'm going to go and get her like, the second I get back; I can barely stand to live without her."_ So why hadn't she gone to get her? _Maybe that's where she's going now? _Troy realized. So he followed her out of the building (thankful that he had brought a hat, which he now had covering part of his face) and into the morning sunlight.

Troy was thankful that she was walking and not driving, because he wouldn't be able to follow her as easily that way. Finally, after walking for a while, Sharpay turned off into a more forest-y area and ducked in between trees. It was easier to follow her this way; she would never know he was following her. Troy tried not to think that he was stalking her.

Finally there was a clearing, and behind it was a river. Troy stayed in the forest, looking at her from afar. Sharpay just stared forward at the river, not looking down, though Troy saw something underneath her where she was standing.

"I'm sorry," he heard her say. Then she ducked down, and touched the thing in front of her. He couldn't see what it was…

o.O.o.o.O.o.

"I'm sorry," Sharpay said rather loudly, and reached down to touch what was in front of her.

She hadn't looked at it in a year. But now as she knelt on her knees on front of it, it felt like no time had passed at all since that day. That day that haunted her memory forever…

She outlined the letters on the tombstone…

o.O.o.o.O.o.

**Five Years Ago**

Sharpay laid her head back. She had just given birth to a baby girl.

Aurora was her name. It means 'dawn', and Sharpay thought it was perfect. Aurora Rose Evans.

Sharpay's angel.

A nurse came into the room, and she was holding Sharpay's baby. Sharpay smiled, reaching her arms out as the nurse placed Aurora in her arms.

"Want to feed her?" The nurse asked.

Sharpay could only nod along as the nurse set her up to breast feed her daughter.

"Press that button," the nurse pointed to a button, "if you need anything. I'll leave you alone now."

Sharpay held Aurora close, even after she was done feeding. "You're my baby, and I love you so much. You're everything to me. You're my Aurora. A little Ice Princess from the Ice Queen," Sharpay laughed. She sighed. "I'm gonna be the best mommy I can, so I hope I'm good at it. Please be one of those babies that don't cry a lot." Sharpay laughed. "But you're my daughter. You're gonna be as loud as hell, aren't you?"

Aurora looked up at Sharpay and grabbed at her hair. Then she grabbed Sharpay's finger and wrapped her hand around it.

That was the first time in ages that Sharpay cried tears of joy.

o.O.o.o.O.o.

Sharpay just fingered the letters. The name, the dates, the saying. It was all so sad.

An entire year had passed. Sharpay couldn't believe it had been such a short time; it felt like forever to her.

Sharpay wiped her tears away, and just sat in front of the tombstone for hours, until it was nearly six o'clock in the evening.

"Goodbye my love," Sharpay whispered, getting up and walking away.

Finally Sharpay left, and Troy was able to go up to the spot where she was. Troy waited until Sharpay was all the way into the forest and out of his sight before he looked closer.

Troy saw that there was a tombstone there, with roses in front of it.

**Aurora Rose Evans**

**February 19****th****, 2008 - December 24****th****, 2012**

**Beloved Daughter and Forever Missed**

Troy stepped back in shock. He could barely absorb what he was reading. He knelt down as well and outlined the letters and the dates. He couldn't believe it.

The beautiful little girl that Sharpay had talked about…showed him pictures of…told stories about…and that Sharpay truly loved…was dead.

o.O.o.o.O.o.

**so, a lot of people should've guessed this chapter's ending...i hope that didn't make it any less cliff-hanger-y! (is that a word:) )**

**please review!**

**amanda**


	8. If It’s Not Broken, Break It

**disclaimer: don't own it. **

**Chapter Eight: If It's Not Broken, Break It**

**One Year Ago**

Sharpay was out shopping for groceries. Aurora was a growing girl, and Sharpay made sure that she always had some sweets in the house. Aurora was Sharpay's life, the only reason for her life.

Plus it was Aurora's fourth birthday, and Sharpay was getting all the supplies needed for her mini-party when Aurora was in school (like a pre-k kind of school).

Sharpay was checking out, putting all of her groceries on the conveyor belt as the store clerk rung her up, when her cell phone rang. Sharpay sighed; who was it?

"Hello?" Sharpay said, clearly annoyed. She didn't like to be bothered.

"Ms. Evans? This is Mrs. Hues; I am Aurora's teacher."

"What's wrong?" Was Sharpay's immediate answer.

"Could you please come to the hospital immediately? I don't feel comfortable doing this over the phone, but something is very wrong with your daughter." The teacher's voice was urgent. Sharpay dropped everything in her arms and ran for her car, forgetting to even shut the phone.

_Aurora…_Sharpay thought, getting into her car and speeding towards the hospital. As she got in and went to the emergency room, she saw Mrs. Hues there, along with the school's principal, Mr. Edger.

"What's wrong with my baby?" Sharpay screamed, drawing attention to herself though she was barely aware of it.

"The doctors are checking her in the second room on your left; they told us to tell you to come in when you got here." Sharpay ran to the room and threw open the door.

Aurora was sitting on a bed in a hospital gown. She had bandages all of her head, and they looked blood soaked. Wires and IV's were all around her.

"Baby," Sharpay started crying, running over to her daughter.

"Mommy," Aurora bared managed to whisper, clearly in pain.

"What the hell is happening to my daughter?" Sharpay screamed. "Fix her! FIX HER!"

"She had an aneurism in her brain." A doctor said. Suddenly the heart machine beeped slower, and slower.

Sharpay grabbed her daughter's hand, and hugged her tightly.

"Mommy, I love you," Aurora whispered. Sharpay stared into her daughter's deep eyes for the last time as they closed. Sharpay hugged her, sobbing, saying "I love you Aurora, I love you so much."

Then the machine on Aurora's heart let out a long beep. Sharpay felt for a pulse.

There was none.

"No," Sharpay whispered. "No, _No_, **No, **NO, **NO**, _**NO**_" Sharpay's screaming got louder with every 'no'. "No, this can't happen. No, you can't leave me Aurora! _You can't, __**you can't**_!"

The doctors had to wrestle Sharpay away from her baby as she started kicking and screaming, extremely upset and destroyed.

"**NO**! Let me see her, you have to save her! You people save everyone else, why can't you save my baby!! _Why did you let her leave me?!?!?_" Sharpay could barely see through her tears as she collapsed onto the ground, fainting.

Aurora was dead. And, along with it, Sharpay's heart died, and Sharpay couldn't think of a reason to live any longer.

A week after Aurora's funeral, Sharpay was in the hospital after three failed attempts at suicide.

**Five Years Ago**

"_Wait, Sharpay!" Troy ran after her, but when he got to the street he almost fell down from shock. _

_Her car was filled with bags of her stuff. She didn't look back, but first she backed up a little and opened the window. _

"_I'm not sorry Troy! You'll find out one day, and I can tell you this: I WILL NOT BE SORRY FOR NOT TELLING YOU!!" Sharpay's body racked with sobs. "Just do me a favor, in memory of our past, okay? Promise you'll let go. Promise me that you'll let it go." _

Then she sped away down the street.

Troy felt the tears in eyes but quickly held them back. This was Sharpay. She threatened to run away from home on almost a daily basis. In fact, she had run away once, last year, and came back the next day. Troy decided not to worry yet, and came back inside and closed the door.

Gabriella was beaming. "You picked _me_. I didn't expect that, to tell you the truth."

"I need to be alone Gabi. I'll call you later, okay?" Troy said slowly and carefully.

Gabriella nodded. "Tonight call me." Troy nodded, and Gabriella walked out of the house.

The next day passed with no sign of Sharpay. And the day after that. Ryan and Troy went to the police three days after she left, both in near hysteria.

A team of investigators was hired, and the Sharpay Search had started.

A couple of days later Troy and Gabriella broke up. Troy couldn't stand to look at her face, because in his mind if he hadn't said her name, Sharpay would still be here.

Troy was distraught. He still started college in the fall, and Ryan and Gabriella started to go out.

Troy didn't mind that Gabriella and Ryan were together, except for the fact that him and Gabriella had only gotten together in the first place because he liked Sharpay, and she liked Ryan. Now she had the guy of her dreams, and the girl of his dreams was missing.

After a year the search had turned up nothing to Ryan and Troy.

After two years, Mrs. Evans stopped caring.

After three years, Ryan started to move on.

After four years, Ryan and Gabriella got engaged.

After five years, Troy still hadn't moved on. He hadn't found any person in the world who could possibly mean this much to him. He had gone out on dates, but nobody in the world was Sharpay Evans besides herself.

And apparently, Sharpay Evans didn't miss him enough to come back.

**Present Day**

_Sharpay Evans didn't miss me enough to come back_, Troy thought. _Or so I thought. She had a child, whose father I still don't know. And her child _died_. The person that Sharpay said that she lived for…is dead. So that's why she tried to kill herself. She thought that she had no point in living without her. How did this happen?_

Troy was surprised that he remembered how to walk back to Sharpay's apartment. After this, he didn't know if he could face her right away.

_I'll wait for a little and absorb this. Then I'll got and talk to her._ Troy reasoned.

Then his phone started to ring.

He picked it up; it was Ryan.

"Have you talked to her yet?" he asked urgently.

"No."

"Why not?"

"I followed her somewhere."

"You're _stalking_ her? How does that help anything?" Ryan sounded confused.

"I followed her to this forest. Then to this river. Then to this tombstone." Troy stopped. There was silence on Ryan's end of the line.

"Aurora Evans is dead." Troy whispered.

Gabriella was apparently speechless, but Ryan just said "oh."

"I feel so awful. I don't even know how to approach her now."

"That's so terrible!" Gabriella shouted.

Ryan said nothing.

"Ryan, are you okay?"

"She didn't tell you?"

Troy was now speechless. "She told you?" Troy was mad. After they had talked, she had made it seem like her daughter was alive and well, not buried underneath the ground.

"Not on purpose." Ryan said carefully. "My mom had told me that Sharpay was pregnant when she left, and"

"Why the hell didn't you tell me that she was pregnant?"

"I didn't think it should matter, Troy. But if you don't wanna hear the rest,"

"No, go on. Please."

"I started to ask why she didn't bring her, but she stopped me and started crying, just saying that she didn't want to think about it."

"_So Shar …our mom told me." Ryan started. Sharpay sat up, rigid and scared, already knowing the question. "Why didn't you bring…"_

"_No," Sharpay said, feeling a tear escaping her eye. "I'm trying not to think about it." She felt her scar and kept eating. _

_Ryan's eyes widened, sensing Sharpay's pain. _

"So I stopped. I didn't want to bring up those types of memories for her. She was already really upset."

"Why didn't you tell me that her daughter was fucking dead?" Troy practically yelled.

"Dude, calm down! That wasn't my information to give to you. I wouldn't feel comfortable. Besides, she trusted me enough not to tell you. And, besides, I thought that you knew."

"It's fine," Troy finally said. "But I really have to talk to her."

"Just talk. Tell her how you feel. She'll appreciate honesty." Gabriella piped in.

"Okay. Bye," Troy said.

"Bye," Ryan and Gabriella chorused. "Good luck," Ryan added.

Troy hung up.

_Well, I did say that I would fight for her, right? _Troy thought.

* * *

**i'm not a doctor, or a medical person, so i hope the first scene was done okay. **

**please review! i really want 100 reviews before i update again, so even if its just a one or two word review, it still would mean a lot to me!**

**thanks for sticking with this story!**

**-amanda**


	9. Blaze of Glory

**disclaimer: don't own it. **

**AN at bottom!**

**Chapter Nine: Blaze of Glory**

**Five Years Ago**

Zeke and Sharpay had been going out for about three months.

Troy hated it.

However, as much as he hated Zeke and Sharpay together, Troy admitted that he was liking being with Gabriella. He was falling for her, hard, and even though he loved Sharpay, he loved Gabriella too.

Complicated, much?

Troy and Gabriella were at a party at Zeke's house. Troy and Gabriella were actually dancing together under the tree that they had danced under on New Year's. It was now the end of March.

"Are you all right?" Gabriella asked Troy. He seemed very…out of it that night. She followed his line of vision, and didn't see his face contort in anger.

But she _did_ see Sharpay lift up the beer bottle and chug it till it was empty.

"SHARPAY EVANS!" Troy screamed, sounding absolutely furious. He ran over to Sharpay, and grabbed the glass of wine she was now holding, and threw it on the floor.

"What the _**hell**_ do you think you are doing?" Troy asked…or more shouted.

"Ha, ha, what's a matter? Why you acting so weird?" Sharpay said, slurring her words.

"Are you…are you _**drunk**_?"

"No!" Sharpay looked at Troy; she dragged the word out and almost fell over.

"How many drinks have you had?" Troy asked, trying to stay calm.

"Just one. Okay, maybe two. Five. Seven." Troy looked at her. "God, stop it! I had…well I had eleven before, but then you threw my twelfth one away! But God, why'd you make me tell?"

"Yeah, staring at you and saying nothing can do that sometimes." Troy said sarcastically. "You have to go home."

"NO! I wanna stay, I wanna stay!" She breathed in Troy's face, and he smelled the alcohol in her breath.

"Okay, we can't take you home this drunk! But I'll just…take you back to my house or something." Troy suggested. He grabbed Sharpay around the waist, flung her over his shoulder, and she grabbed her bag from the table, kicking, punching his back, screaming that she didn't want to go. Then he threw her into his car.

Then, he remembered something else he had forgotten: Gabriella.

He ran back to the backyard, but Gabriella was standing by the fence waiting for him. "Can you take me home now?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"Yeah." Troy looked at her sadly. "I'm sorry that I ruined your night."

"You're just watching out for a friend. I would do the same for my friends." But Troy read behind her eyes, and saw what she was saying: _I know that I'll never be as important as her in your eyes_.

In a way, that wasn't true…_but then again, maybe it is_, Troy thought as the two walked to his car.

Troy got in and started the car. Sharpay was screaming to let her go back into the house. He didn't say anything until after he dropped off Gabriella. Once he got to his house, he stopped the car and looked at her.

"You are a mess, Shar. You didn't used to go off, and get drunk at parties. You're changing, and you don't even know it. And you're changing for the worse."

"That's it! Stop trying to control my life!" Sharpay screamed. "I'm a big girl who can make her own decisions!"

Troy just looked ahead. "You're drunk! Apparently, those decisions that you make aren't too great, or you wouldn't be drunk, with a hangover to look forward to!"

"Oh my god, shut the fuck up! I can do whatever the fuck I want!" Sharpay got out of the car, slammed the door, and started walking back towards her house, which was next door.

"You're gonna go deal with your parents now?!" Troy yelled. Sharpay turned around and stared at him with bloodshot eyes.

"I am _NEVER_, _EVER_, going to invite you to anything again! Holy shit Troy, you spoil _**EVERYTHING**_!" Sharpay screeched.

So the two stopped talking.

Troy felt himself losing the Sharpay that he loved.

However, the next month, she invited him to the talent show.

o.O.o.o.O.o.

**sorry that it's so short, but it's an update!**

**thanks for the 100 reviews :) you guys are soooo awesome!!!**

**but, 40 people have this story on alert, and 32 have it favorited, so i'd love it if all of you readers reviewed!!!!!**

**thanks for keeping with this story :) and review!**

**-amanda**


	10. Last Man Standing

**disclaimer: don't own it. **

**Chapter Ten: Last Man Standing**

**Three Years Ago**

"Mommy!" Aurora screamed in fright as she ran into the living room (which doubled as Sharpay's bedroom) and jumped onto the pull-out bed that her mother was currently trying to sleep on.

"Yes, baby, what's wrong?"

"The tunder and lightening is scaring me!" Sharpay almost laughed at the mispronunciation of thunder and lightning, but didn't because of the scared look on her daughter's face.

"Why is it scary? It's outside; it isn't going to hurt you."

"But the tunder is loud and the lightening is…scary mama!" Aurora buried her head in her mother's chest. Sharpay held her, and carefully pried her face from her chest to look her in the eyes.

"But the thunder and lightning shouldn't be scary. Do you want to know what thunder and lightning _really_ is?" Sharpay asked. Aurora nodded. "Whenever you see thunder and lightning, it's because the angels are bowling." Aurora looked confused.

"You see," Sharpay continued, "whenever you hear thunder, it's because the angels knocked down the pins. And whenever you see lightning, it means that an angel got a strike."

"Really?" Aurora looked awed.

"Yes baby. That's why you don't have to be afraid of it."

A flash of lightning lit up the room then, followed by a crash of thunder.

"But if you want, you can stay here tonight."

"Okay mommy. I love you," Aurora whispered before she fell back asleep.

"I love you too," Sharpay whispered back.

o.O.o.o.O.o.

It was the middle of May, and Aurora came running out to meet her mother after school.

"Mommy, guess what?" Aurora said loudly as Sharpay picked her up.

"What baby?"

"On Sunday, it's Mommy's Day! And, I made you a present! But it's gotta be a suprise!"

Sharpay smiled. She knew what the present was; the teacher had told them about it so they could get what they needed for it. But she faked awe, and smiled brightly. "Well thank you baby, I'm sure I'll love your present."

On Sunday, Aurora made sure that she woke Sharpay up bright and early; she was very excited.

"Aurora! Let me sleep," Sharpay murmured. But Aurora climbed into the bed with her, and put a present in her hands.

"Happy Mommy's Day Mommy!" She yelled, and giggled. Sharpay wiped the sleep from her eyes and sat up, pulling Aurora into her lap.

"Here, open the card, open the card!" Aurora laughed. Sharpay obliged.

The card was simple: a piece of pink construction paper folded in half, with the words 'Happy Mommy's Day' on the front in blue magic marker, and on the inside a simple note in red magic marker saying 'Happy Mother's Day! I love you! Love Aurora.' On the other side of the card there was a picture of what Sharpay assumed to be her and Aurora.

"Oh baby, that's beautiful. Thank you so much!" Sharpay kissed her head.

"No, you have to see the present too!" It was something simple, once again. A handmade foam flower photo frame, with a magnet on the back, and a picture of Sharpay and Aurora.

Sharpay looked at her daughter, who looked so much like her, hugged her tight and kissed her forehead. "I love you so much. Thank you; this is the best present I have ever gotten."

"I love you too mommy."

o.O.o.o.O.o.

**Present Day**

Troy knocked loudly on Sharpay's door.

She answered almost immediately.

"Troy?" She looked at him in shock. Then her eyes narrowed. "What the _hell_ are you doing here? And don't be so loud, you'll wake Aurora."

Troy's eyes narrowed considerably. "I've never been known to wake the dead, but why don't I give it a try?"

Sharpay looked up into his eyes.

_He knew? How does he know?_

"What?" Sharpay asked, her voice shaking.

"I know that Aurora is dead, Sharpay. Why didn't you tell me? Why couldn't you stay if you didn't have to come back to her? What is here that's so important to you? Why couldn't you stay with me?" Troy asked the last question softly.

"Because…I can't, Troy. You don't know what it's like, to live with her shadow over me all the time. I can't move. I can't leave. I deserve this pain, because I couldn't save her."

"It wasn't your fault that she died, Sharpay. Don't blame yourself."

Sharpay looked at Troy. "How did you find out that she was dead?"

Troy knew that saying that he practically stalked her was a bad idea. "I um…I…I just…"

Sharpay suddenly looked angry. "Troy, what did you do?"

Unable to come up with a lie, he said the truth. "I followed you to her grave, waited until you left, and saw what it was."

Sharpay looked at him with a fierce look of hatred. "You _what?_ I was assuming you asked the neighbors or something!"

"_That_ would have been a good lie, Troy," he said to himself.

"You stalked me." Sharpay said. It wasn't a question.

"'Stalk' makes it sound so much worse than it is."

"What do you mean, worse than it is? You stalked me! You invaded my privacy, my time, my secret --"

"Your lies!" Troy interrupted. "Why didn't you just say that your daughter was dead and get it over with?"

"Because I don't want to acknowledge that she's dead! She shouldn't be dead, it's not fair, she was small, she was helpless…I want to pretend that she's alive!"

"Live in a world of actuality, Shar. Reality check: she isn't alive! It's unhealthy to obsess like this!"

"Obsess?" Sharpay said in a furiously low voice. "_Obsess_? Me being upset over my daughter's _death_ is _obsessive_?"

"Bad word choice," Troy said to himself.

"Unless you are in my situation, do NOT judge me! You have no fucking idea how hard it is for me to live every day!" Sharpay screamed.

Troy looked at Sharpay. "This might not have happened if you hadn't run away. Why didn't you stay?"

"I was afraid!"

"Afraid of what?" Troy countered. "I would have helped you, and you know it! It wouldn't have mattered if it wasn't my child, I would have loved it so much because it was yours! Not to mention that Ryan would have helped beyond belief. Why didn't you stay?"

Sharpay just looked away. "I was afraid." She repeated.

Troy just looked at her. "You deserve so much better than this." He muttered.

"Oh yeah, I deserve better? Where exactly do I find 'better'"? Sharpay asked sarcastically.

Troy decided in that moment to do something very daring. "I'm better," he growled, as he grabbed her and pushed his lips onto hers in a breathtaking kiss.

o.O.o.o.O.o.

**hehe i love making cliffies :)**

**i hope that everybody liked this chapter, writing Aurora is a lot of fun. **

**thanks for keeping with this story, and please review!!!!**

**-amanda**


	11. Whatever Will Be

**disclaimer: 11 chapters later, and i still don't own it. **

**Chapter 11: Whatever Will Be**

**Present Day**

_Troy decided in that moment to do something very daring. "I'm better," he growled, as he grabbed her and pushed his lips onto hers in a breathtaking kiss. _

He thought he would get pushed away, hit, possibly even punched in the face.

He didn't expect Sharpay to kiss him back with fervor that he didn't know she had.

His arms wrapped around her waist and pushed her closer to his body as her arms snaked around his neck and her hands lost themselves in his hair. Troy lifted Sharpay off her feet and placed her on the table, never once breaking their kiss.

Sharpay moaned against his mouth, but loss of oxygen made them break apart. Troy pushed his forehead against Sharpay's, and lightly kissed her again.

"Wow," Sharpay whispered against Troy's lips. "You _are_ quite a bit better, aren't you?" Troy smirked. "That's the first time I've kissed anyone in a while."

Troy kissed her again, this time more slowly, and less worried that she would push him away.

Then Sharpay pulled away.

"I'm not sorry that I left." Sharpay said. "I'm not sorry that I left. Not at all."

Troy looked at her.

"I'm not sorry," Sharpay whispered again, much softer, more to herself.

"I wish you had stayed," Troy admitted. "I loved you so much. I…I couldn't think of a world without you, once you left. I waited so long for you. I couldn't accept that you might not ever come back."

"That was one hell of a kiss." Sharpay whispered, laughing a bit.

"Yes, it was. It's…it's what I always imagined you would kiss like, but about a thousand times better."

Sharpay smiled at him warmly. "I missed you so much. I thought about going back, to see you and Ryan. You two were the only two people who I missed. You were the only two people that I loved. In two totally different ways of love, though," Sharpay added in at the end, laughing.

Troy hadn't heard that wonderful, real laugh in such a long time.

"I figured a couple of years after she was born I would come back." Sharpay continued. "But then…she died. And when she died, a part of me died. I wasn't ready to face everybody. But then my mom died, and I had to go back to say goodbye. But then again, I'm still not ready to face my past. I miss her so much," Sharpay whispered, her voice getting softer with every word.

Troy kissed Sharpay's forehead. "It's okay to miss her. She was your daughter, and you loved her. You can't expect to fully move on."

Sharpay nodded, and a comfortable silence overtook them for a long time.

"I was late, over a week late." Sharpay whispered suddenly. Troy looked up at her.

"Over a week late for what?" Troy asked, confused. Sharpay gave him a look.

"Five years ago. I was a week late with my period." Sharpay said, relishing in the look on Troy's face at the word period. "I was _always_ on time. I had never been late before. Naturally, I started worrying, big time. What was I going to do?

"So I went to a drugstore way across town, one that no one would see me in, and brought a bunch of different tests. I needed to be sure.

"I was so scared that day. What if I was pregnant? How was I going to manage? I had only done it once, so I knew who the father was, but that night meant nothing. He didn't even remember it the next day, he was so drunk." Sharpay laughed, a hollow laugh, an empty laugh.

"So I took the tests, and waited in my room. I got about a second to look before my mom came in.

"When my mom found the pregnancy tests in my bathroom, she flipped out," Sharpay said. "We had a tremendous fight. We yelled and screamed. I told her some pretty bad things, but the things that she told me…well, they were just plain _awful_. She told me to get out of her house, so I packed up my stuff and left.

"And that's when I came to your house. I knew…I _thought _that you would help me. You were my best friend, right? Why wouldn't you help me in my desperate hour?"

Troy looked like he was going to say something, but Sharpay put up her hand to silence him.

"I was gonna ask to stay with you." Sharpay said. The tears were evident in her eyes now.

"Why didn't you?" asked Troy. "You know you could've. You know that I would've helped you."

Sharpay started crying hysterically and couldn't talk for a minute. She only said one coherent thing: "Apparently, I wasn't worth it because _you didn't pick me_."

"What?" Troy said, looking at her meaningfully.

"You didn't pick me. You picked Gabriella. _You didn't pick me_." Sharpay wiped her eyes. "If Gabriella was sooo important that you picked her over me, then apparently I wasn't worth it."

Troy breathed in and out once, to calm himself. "That's why you left? Because of the answer to a fucking question?"

Sharpay winced when he cursed, but nodded. Troy laughed, a deranged laugh.

"I thought you were trying to break us up out of spite, because your relationship with Zeke sucked, and was over, and ours was still going strong. I thought you were jealous, and I thought you only wanted me now because I was taken."

"So what Troy? So what? I was your best friend, you should have picked me!"

"Well Gabriella was my girlfriend Shar! You had to accept that you weren't the only girl in my life anymore!"

"Well, maybe I wanted to be that girl!" Sharpay yelled.

"What girl?" Troy asked, confused.

"_I_ wanted to be the girl that you kiss. _I_ wanted to be your girlfriend. _I_ wanted to be _that girl_!"

o.O.o.o.O.o.

**sorry about the short chapter, and the long time before i updated. **

**please review! i got so many reviews on the last chapter, it was awesome!!!!**

**thanks for sticking with this story!**

**-amanda :)**


	12. Whenever You Remember

**disclaimer: don't own it. **

**AN at bottom!**

**Chapter 12: Whenever You Remember**

**Present Day**

"_Well Gabriella was my girlfriend Shar! You had to accept that you weren't the only girl in my life anymore!"_

"_Well, maybe I wanted to be that girl!" Sharpay yelled. _

"_What girl?" Troy asked, confused. _

"I _wanted to be the girl that you kiss. _I_ wanted to be your girlfriend. _I _wanted to be _that girl_!" _

Troy looked at her, shocked. "_You_ liked _me_?" he asked.

"Yes! I like, loved you Troy!" She yelled. "But apparently, you didn't like me, or you wouldn't have started dating Gabriella!"

"Well, aren't you a little hypocritical, considering that _you_ were dating _Zeke_ at the time?"

"I broke up with him!"

"No…_he _broke up with _you_, and you expected me to dump my girlfriend as a result of your breakup?!"

"Shut up Troy. You have _no idea_ how I felt during that time."

"Oh that's nice. You're wrong, so you decide it's time to change the subject. And besides Sharpay, what does it matter if I was dating Gabriella? I still don't get why you couldn't have told me."

"I just couldn't, okay Troy? You don't know the whole story!"

"So tell me the whole story Shar!"

Sharpay looked away; she looked almost…guilty about something. "I can't," she whispered.

"Why not?" Troy demanded.

"I just can't."

"That New Year's Eve, of Senior Year, I was going to tell you that I loved you." Troy said softly, but his voice was getting louder. "I was going to tell you, but then you go and get Zeke as your fucking boyfriend! If you liked me so much, why didn't you tell me?"

"Well, what if you didn't like me?" Sharpay yelled back. "And of course, don't forget your _precious_ Gabriella!"

"I did like you! I only started dating Gabriella because I knew that you wouldn't go out with me! She liked Ryan, not me! Ryan and Gabriella started dating about a year after you left, and they're ENGAGED now! I started to like Gabriella, yes, I admit it, but I only went out with her because I was depressed that you wouldn't go out with me! At that New Year's Eve party, I waited for you to show up to hang out with me, but _nooo_, you have to make out with your boyfriend all night. If you liked me, why didn't you hang out with me? Why did you make me wait for you, and finally meet up with Gabriella because I was depressed?!"

"I was afraid that you didn't like me!"

"Come on Shar, that answer is shit, and you know it!"

Sharpay looked him determinatively, and Troy felt himself shrink under her glare. "Don't blame this on me. If you hadn't picked the bitch in the first place --"

"Oh my god Shar, aren't you going to let that go?"

"No, I'm not!" Sharpay glared at Troy. "I'm not going to let it go. I have been living a horrible life for the past five years. If it wasn't for Aurora, I probably would have killed myself."

"Well, you did try to kill yourself Shar," Troy said, but at the murderous look from Sharpay he realized that _probably_ wasn't the smartest to bring up.

"Sharpay, you know that I would have helped you."

Sharpay looked up. "That's a lie! Tell me the truth!" she commanded.

"I am. I would have helped you, and --"

"Come on Troy, _that_ answer is shit."

Troy looked at Sharpay, and hugged her tightly. "Shar, you should have known that, no matter who the father was, I would have helped you raise her I would have treated her like my own daughter, and she would have been so loved. Why couldn't you just say that you were pregnant in front of Gabriella? Or, why couldn't you just wait and come back later if it was so important to tell me alone?"

Sharpay started shaking and sobbing. She wrenched herself out of Troy's grasp, and grabbed the table for support. She looked like she was going to pass out.

"Troy…it was then or never. And since you didn't pick then…well, it was never. I…I couldn't have said what I needed to say in front of Gabriella, and my mom had kicked me out; where was I supposed to go?"

"Shar…who was the father? Why didn't you tell him? Don't you think he deserved to know that he had a daughter?"

If Troy thought that was going to make it better, he was sadly mistaken. Sharpay started shaking even harder, and put her head in her hands. Troy thought he heard her mutter "I can't tell him."

"You know you _can_ tell me, right?" Troy said gently. Sharpay looked up, not at him, but at the wall, as thought she was debating something.

"Troy, promise you won't get mad."

"Shar, you can tell me."

"No, promise me that you won't get mad."

"I promise Shar, I promise." Troy said softly.

Troy rubbed her back, and finally she stopped crying, and stood up to face him. She took a deep breath.

"Troy…Aurora…she…she was…she was _our_ daughter."

o.O.o.o.O.o.

**now, a lot of readers must have suspected that one coming! that doesn't make it any less of a cliffie: how's Troy gonna react??? we know that he's prone to overreacting, and that Sharpay's mental state isn't in it's best condition now...**

**sorry for the short update, but it was an update! if I get lots of reviews fast, the next chapter will be up a lot sooner!!**

**56 people have this on alert, and 50 people have it favorited. thanks so much for doing that, but if more people would review and give me feedback, i'd really appreciate it! it only takes a couple of seconds to write a couple of words to make a writer smile (all of you writers out there know that :) )**

**thanks for sticking with this story, and i can guarantee (hopefully!) that you'll reallyy like what happens in the next chapter. it's definately my favorite flashback (wink wink if that doesn't tell you, don't know what will, hehe)**

**Review!!**

**-Amanda**


	13. Sedona Sunrise

**Disclaimer: don't own it. **

**Big AN at bottom!!!!!!**

**Chapter 13: Sedona Sunrise**

-The night that Troy and Sharpay did it and got pregnant

-Troy leaves to think

**Five Years Ago**

Sharpay had won the talent show, and her and Troy decided to go out to celebrate.

Sitting across from each other at a local restaurant, Sharpay grabbed Troy's hands. "Thank you so much for being there. It meant the world to me. You know that you're my best friend, and it meant absolutely everything to me."

Troy smiled back at Sharpay and held her hands tightly in his. "You know I love you Shar; I had to be there, I had to. I'm so happy for you."

Sharpay looked at their interlocked hands. Troy paid the bill, and grabbed Sharpay's hands tighter. "Come with me," Troy whispered, and together they walked to his car.

"Troy, what's going on?" Sharpay asked once they were in his car, and then Troy pulled a bottle of wine and two beers out from the backseat of his car.

"Troy!" Sharpay exclaimed, surprised, but Troy opened the two beers, and gave one to her.

"To Sharpay Evans, my best friend." He whispered, and clinked his bottle against hers. Then he drank it, and Sharpay took a little sip of hers. Troy smiled warmly at her.

In about ten minutes, Troy had finished his beer, and Sharpay's beer, and had drunk most of the wine.

Sharpay hardly noticed that he was getting severely drunk. All she cared about was that she was with him, and he was with her, and that nothing in the world could stop her from leaving. _Nothing_.

"Shar," Troy said, leaning in across the seat until his mouth was an inch away from hers and she couldn't even breathe, "I love you. I love you Shar."

"Yeah Troy, I love you too." Sharpay whispered, smelling the alcohol in his breath. Still, she couldn't help but smile.

"No Shar! I _love_ you, like I'm in love with you. Like, I want to hold you," Troy wrapped his arms around her waist, "and hug you…" Troy squeezed her, and Sharpay shivered noticeably in his arms, "and kiss you…" And Troy kissed her, hard, on the mouth. "And show you just how much I love you…"

Sharpay felt Troy's warm hand on her cold back, and involuntarily arched her back into him. Then she realized just what she was doing, and quickly pulled away from him.

"Troy, you have a girlfriend!"

"But I want _you_ Shar!"

"No, you don't!"

Sharpay wouldn't look into his eyes. She was afraid that she would start crying. _Because he's only saying that because he's drunk, not because of anything else…_she thought.

Sharpay felt Troy's hands find her waist, and felt his lips on her icy right shoulder. She tilted her neck to the side involuntarily as his tongue made its way up her neck, to her chin, her cheek…and once again hit her lips.

But this time, there was no objection.

Sharpay turned around and pushed Troy against the car door, kissing him passionately, letting years of built up attraction release into this kiss, this moment.

Sharpay kissed his cheeks, his chin, his neck, his lips again. She undid the first button of his shirt, and kissed the newly exposed skin. Another button, another kiss, another button, another kiss…and then she slid his shirt down his shoulders, kissing his nipples. He pushed his head against the window of the car, his hands still holding Sharpay's waist tightly.

Sharpay licked his nipple, and then lightly blew on it. The cold air hitting him made Troy groan, and Sharpay raked her fingernails down his chest, emitting eight red lines down his chest.

Sharpay felt Troy's hand on the back of her dress, fumbling around, and was confused for a second before she heard him say "Shit Shar, is this dress like _welded_ to your body? Where's the zipper?" She laughed softly against him, and placed his hand on the zipper. He pulled it down slowly, carefully, and once it was down all the way Sharpay hoisted herself up and out of it.

And as she wasn't wearing a bra, Troy found himself staring at her breasts. The breasts he had wanted to see, touch, taste since he took health in seventh grade.

He groaned, and heard her groan too, as he cupped her breasts in his hands, kneading them, as he kissed her hard again. He rolled one of her nipples between his fingers, and felt it harden at his touch. He palmed her left breast softly, and then rolled her nipple between his thumb and finger.

He lowered his mouth to her right nipple, and Sharpay felt like she would explode. She arched into him, her fingers still clenched in his now even messier chocolate hair, and held him in place at her chest. His guttural groan made her shiver in pleasure.

He kissed her nipple, sucking on it. He lightly nipped her nipple with his teeth as he kneaded her other breast with his other hand. He switched, but this time copied Sharpay's earlier technique. He licked her breast, and blew on it. Sharpay realized why Troy had groaned, and moaned into his hair.

He kissed each one of her nipples one last time before kissing her on the lips again. Her tongue met his, and they battled with passion and ferocity.

Sharpay felt herself become very daring all of a sudden. She grabbed the top of his pants, slowly undoing the button, and feeling him as she pulled down the zipper. He moved quickly so that he was leaning against the door, so Sharpay could maneuver herself better. She slowly, tantalizingly pulled down his pants, and felt him through his boxers.

She pulled his boxers down and off, and wasn't that surprised to see him already hard. She felt him again, running her fingers up and down his length, palming him. His eyes were filled to the brim with desire as Sharpay looked at him, but then he closed his eyes in sheer pleasure.

Troy moaned when he felt Sharpay's hands leave his member, but threw his head back, hitting the window hard as he felt her mouth envelop him. She pumped with her mouth, and Troy's hard lost themselves in her hair, holding her head in place. He knew that he wouldn't last long, and he didn't; but that didn't stop him from moaning "Sharpay" as he came, hard, in her mouth.

He opened his eyes, and his met hers. Sharpay licked her lips and swallowed his cum, and Troy had to stop from coming again at the sight. He lightly pushed her back down against the seat, and rested himself on his forearms above her.

Troy noticed that Sharpay was wearing only black lace panties, and felt himself harden even more at the mere image. He hooked his thumbs onto either side, and slowly, excruciatingly slid them down to her hips, fingering her clit slightly as he went down. He pushed them down to her knees, and she kicked them off. He tantalizingly felt her inner thighs, and slowly made his way to her clit. He slowly slid one finger, then two into her, pumping slowly, and then faster. Sharpay thrust her hips up to meet his thrusts.

Just as Sharpay was about to come, Troy removed his hands, and Sharpay let out an audible complaint, before he reentered her with his tongue.

Sharpay swore to herself that she had died and just went to heaven. "Oh god, Troy, don't…stop…please…" She moaned. She held on for as long as she could, never wanting this pleasure to end, but then it became too much. She felt herself come, and Troy lapped up the juices that had spilled onto her thighs. Sharpay was heavily panting as he looked at her.

Troy looked down at the girl…the woman beneath him, wearing nothing but the _Sharpay_ necklace that he had gotten her so long ago. She was still panting slightly, her breasts rising with every intake of air, and kissed her again, and again, and again, massaging her mouth with his tongue, wanting to prove that he was being honest. Sharpay's hands lost themselves in Troy's hair as he massaged one of her breasts, and kissed the other.

"Troy," Sharpay whispered against his mouth as he came to kiss her again. He looked at her, and couldn't have missed the fierce passion and determination laden in her eyes. "I'm ready for this Troy. I'm…" she raked her fingernails across his chest, and then looked back at his face. "I'm ready for you."

He nodded slightly, and kissed her once more, before guiding himself to her entrance. She nodded again at the question in his eyes, and he smiled softly at her, before slowly leading himself into her.

Slowly…Sharpay didn't do 'slow' ever, and she pushed her hips upward, and felt him slide almost completely into her.

It was pleasure, it was ecstasy, it was _everything she wanted_…

And then, there was pain.

Sharpay had forgotten the consequences of being a virgin.

She cried when she bumped into something, got a tiny paper cut. And this hurt quite a bit more than that.

Suddenly, it didn't feel so good, and Troy didn't seem to realize that Sharpay was crying until she pushed on his chest so hard that he looked into her crying eyes, and his own eyes immediately widened.

"Let me get used to it first," she whispered. He nodded, and she wigged beneath him. Troy groaned as her breasts came in contact with his chest, and he kissed each of her nipples.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you were a virgin, I figured that you, and Zeke, had"

"Its fine, you didn't know," Sharpay whispered softly.

And then the pleasure came back after that moment, as a filling feeling rushed through Sharpay, and it was her who groaned this time. She had never felt anything like it…the sensation, the feelings like nothing else she had ever felt…

"Faster," she panted against his chest as he pulled out, and then thrusted back in again.

Sharpay would swear that her eyeballs rolled back into her head, as she threw her head back and moaned. Her moaning only made Troy kiss her again on the mouth, and then the neck, and he kissed her with such fervor that it would definitely leave a mark there the next day.

In a way, Sharpay would think as she looked at it the next morning, it was symbolic — after all, Troy had claimed her a long time ago, before he even knew it; and now he was marking it, marking her.

Sharpay grabbed his face with her hands, and kissed him passionately, wrapping both of her legs around his waist. She was amazed that they had this much room to do this in the backseat of his car.

Quickly a rhythm was found between the pair, and Troy found himself hovering near the edge closer than he thought possible. But he didn't want this to end, because it couldn't. Nothing this right should ever end…

He brought his thumb to her clit, and rubbed it softly, and then harder, as she grounded her hips into him, and pushed her head back into the seat in pure _ecstasy_.

He felt her walls contract around him, and he went harder, faster.

"Shar, please…Shar…oh god…" he moaned.

"Troy, I love you," she whispered into his ear.

And then he spilled his seed deep inside of her, and felt her release around him as well. Collapsing onto his forearms, he looked her in the eyes and saw a slight amount of tears in her eyes.

"It only hurt at first." Sharpay panted, answering his unasked questions. "It was beautiful Troy."

"You're beautiful Shar."

A thin sheet of perspiration covering their naked bodies, with Sharpay's legs still wrapped around Troy…it seemed natural. He attempted to flip them unsuccessfully in the small space, so he moved first, letting Sharpay move from underneath him, and quickly pulled her back, lying down, but this time she was on top of him.

"Love you Shar."

"Hope so," Sharpay whispered a couple of minutes later to no one but herself, as Troy had fallen asleep, with her in his arms.

o.O.o.o.O.o.

The next morning, Sharpay woke up, laying against Troy in the backseat of his car.

Disoriented and confused, Sharpay started to move, but Troy's arms instinctively tightened around her, and suddenly, Sharpay remembered everything.

She felt tears well up in her eyes, but she wiped then away and quickly disentangled herself from Troy's arms, throwing on her clothes as fast as she could. She quickly got out of the car, quietly closed the door, and started to walk home.

Sharpay had had her first time with Troy, her love, her prince…and Troy wouldn't even remember it.

**Present Day**

"_Troy…Aurora…she…she was…she was _our_ daughter."_

Troy was trying to process it. He had a daughter…he had a daughter…he had a_ daughter_…

"My daughter?" Troy whispered in an extremely low but furious voice.

"You promised you wouldn't get mad." Sharpay whispered, refusing to meet Troy's eyes.

"She was _my_ daughter, and you didn't care to tell me? What, did the fact that she was half _**mine**_ meaning _**nothing**_ to you? _HOW CAN I NOT BE UPSET?!"_ Troy screamed.

"Troy," Sharpay whispered, crying again. "I'm so sorry."

"Sorry for what Sharpay? Sorry that you left without giving me any idea what was going on? Sorry for never telling me that I had a _daughter_? Sorry for never telling me that _my_ daughter was **dead**?!" Sharpay looked like she was going pass out; her face was white. She grabbed the edge of the table, her bony hands deathly pale against the mahogany.

"Don't cry Sharpay. This isn't my fault, so don't blame it on me!" He yelled. Troy was passionate about a lot of things; he was extremely passionate about love; why wouldn't he show the same passion when he was angry, and upset, and hurt? "You shouldn't get to cry! You don't deserve that much!" His face was red with rage. "Just…leave me alone, all right? I'll be back…later."

He needed to ask Sharpay more questions. He knew that.

But…he also needed to think.

And he needed to think away from Sharpay.

So Troy promptly left her apartment, left without a second glance, just as Sharpay had done to him so many years before.

And this time, it was her turn to cry.

o.O.o.o.O.o.

**finally a longer chapter and a faster update:)**

**ooo steamy chapter! Hope my smut scene was somewhat good. **

**does that count as a cliffie? It would to me if I didn't know what was gonna happen next. **

**Troy in the flashback scene ****—**** he really does love Sharpay, but he'll only say it because he's being drunk, and doesn't realize it. he does like Gabriella a lot, because he's been dating her for so long, but underneath it all back then, he still loved Shar. He got truthful when he got drunk (he also got reallyy turned on apparently, lol)**

**I may have made Troy seem mean and unreasonable towards the end, but you have to understand his side, and where he's coming from. Wouldn't anyone overreact to something like that? Poor Sharpay ****—**** she just has a hard life, doesn't she? **

**This story is coming to a close soon, but we've still got some time left!!! And I have another plot bunny in my head that I'm going to start to write soon, so hopefully I can start another idea that will have (hopefully) just as much an amazing response as this story has gotten!!!**

**And also…**

**You reviewers are SPECTACULAR!!!!!!! and I want to say thanks for sticking with this story again! I was absolutely thrilled with the amazing response that the last chapter got ****—**** it was spectacular to see so many reviews waiting to be read!! You readers make writing such a fantastic experience, and particularly thanks to all my faithful readers and (especially) my faithful reviewers ****—**** you guys are the BEST!!! I wish I could each and every reader and reviewer a bone-crushing hug for the smiles that you guys put on my face!**

**Please review once again ****—**** last chapter's response was spectacular, and I can only hope that it stays that way!!!**

**-Amanda :)**


	14. Lost Highway

**Chapter 14: Lost Highway**

**Present Day**

Troy felt himself running to the place were he had been hours before.

Her grave. Aurora's grave.

His daughter's grave.

He ran as fast as he could.

Once he got to the grave, he knelt down in front of it, tracing over the letters of her name.

He felt a little bad about yelling at Sharpay, but that guilt quickly evaporated and became fury once he rethought about what she did.

She was pregnant, with _his_ child, and she knew it was his, but she didn't tell him. She hadn't told him.

And now she was dead, and he would never get to meet her. He would never get to hold her, or hug her, or tuck her into bed at night. He would never be able to meet his first child, his first daughter.

Troy screamed as loud as he could, trying to let go of every emotion that was hurdling around inside of him. He couldn't see, he couldn't breathe…

Troy then realized something. If Ryan had known that she was pregnant…if he knew that it was Troy's baby…why hadn't he ever told him?

In a fury, Troy dialed Ryan's number.

Ryan picked up on the second ring. "Hey Troy, what's going on, have you talked to Sharpay yet?"

"It was mine?" Troy said in the lowest, most furious voice he had ever heard himself speak in. "Aurora was _mine_?!"

"Troy, listen,"

"Don't say that!" Troy screamed. "Why the hell did you never tell me that I had a daughter?!? With _**Sharpay**_? You couldn't have given me a warning of some sort? 'Oh yeah Troy, you know that daughter that you just found out that Sharpay has, that is also dead, is your baby too?' What the hell Ryan?"

"Troy, it was never my place to tell you."

"But you knew! BUT YOU KNEW!"

"Troy, calm down!"

Troy covered the mouth piece and screamed into the day, tracing over the letters of Aurora's gravestone.

"Troy, you have to understand her side. She was pregnant, and you apparently didn't remember doing it with her. And, on top of that, you told her that you would choose Gabriella over her, which I still don't understand."

"Holy shit, is my whole life ruined because of that fucking answer?" Troy yelled. "I only picked Gabriella because I was really pissed at Sharpay. Zeke had broken up with her, and I knew that she was pissed that I was dating Gabriella, and she didn't have a boyfriend. So when she asked that, I thought she was just trying to break up Gabriella and me, so I wouldn't have anyone if she didn't. I was pissed at her, so I picked Gabriella. And now…I didn't even get to meet my daughter because Sharpay was a bitch. She should've told me!"

Ryan sighed. "Just, think about it. You've been in love with her for a long time, at least six years. Think about what you could lose if you lost her…again. Do you really want to lose her? You're just mad at her, just like you were mad at her five years ago, but think about it. It's you and Shar, Troy and Sharpay…you can't let her go."

"Ryan, I'm standing over my daughter's grave." He whispered. "How can I forgive her?"

"How can you not?"

And then Ryan hung up.

And Troy started to cry as he looked at his daughter's gravestone, and he realized that he could never live without Sharpay.

It didn't matter about the past or the future right now…all that mattered was that he would always regret it if he left her now.

**Later That Day**

Troy knocked on Sharpay's door for the second time that day. Sharpay answered almost immediately.

"Troy, I'm so sorry. I don't even know how to begin. I should have told you, I mean it was your _child_, and you so deserved to know, and now you can't even get to meet her, and --"

But Troy wasn't listening to her. He looked around the apartment for a minute before asking, "Why aren't there any pictures of her here?"

Sharpay looked away. "I burned them when she…died."

"Do you have any?" Troy asked. Sharpay nodded, just happy that he wasn't yelling at her. She went into her bedroom, and brought out a shoebox, and handed it to Troy. He sat down at her kitchen table and opened the box.

There were about twenty pictures inside. Troy picked each one up, and looked at it, as if pretending that if he stared hard enough he would be in the picture with her. He went through the small pile of pictures, smiling, though looking sad at the same time.

Sharpay sat down at the table across from him, and he ignored her. She watched him as he went through the pictures.

Every single one he stopped at and stared at.

"Shar? Can I ask you something?" Troy said after they sat in a comfortable silence as he looked through what was left of Aurora's pictures.

"Yeah, Troy, what is it?"

"Do you wanna go out for dinner tonight?"

Sharpay looked up, extremely surprised. "Are you asking me out? Why aren't you yelling at me? I deserve to be yelled at, screamed at, told what an awful person I am. And you're asking me out? Why don't you hate me?"

Troy looked up at her. "Do you want me to yell at you?"

"No, but I'd deserve it."

"Yeah, you would deserve it. Big time." Troy agreed. "But it's not all your fault. I've done some things that I'm not proud of either. Everyone has regrets, Shar, and my regrets here are that I never got to meet this beautiful little girl, and that I lost the most beautiful woman, and might lose her again."

He smiled at her. "I'm mad at you, of course I am. I deserved to know. But…I have one question for you."

"Shoot. Anything, Troy."

"Do you wanna go out for dinner tonight?"

Sharpay looked up, this time a smile blooming on her face. "I'd love to," she whispered, and then leaned in and kissed him.

o.O.o.o.O.o.

**Three Years Ago**

"Mommy!" Aurora yelled from the living room.

"Rora, I'm in the next room, you don't need to yell." Sharpay yelled back. Aurora giggled and ran into the kitchen and wrapped her arms around Sharpay's legs.

"Mommy?" Aurora asked, sounding cautious.

"Yes, baby?"

"What's my daddy like?"

Sharpay almost dropped the plate that she was putting away. She carefully put it down, and picked Aurora up. Aurora yelled in glee as Sharpay spun her around and sat down with her on the sofa.

"Well, your daddy…your daddy is very special to me."

"Then why don't we see him all the time? Why does he not stay with us?" Aurora suddenly looked very sad. "Does he not like me?"

"No, no, baby. I'm sure that he loves you. He loves you."

"Then how come he is not here?"

"Well, sometimes mommies and daddies don't stay together. Sometimes they stop loving each other." Sharpay tried to explain this in words that a toddler would understand. "Some of your friends don't have mommies _and _daddies. Angela has only a daddy, and Michael has only a mommy too."

"But everybody else has two." Aurora looked upset. "I miss him."

Sharpay looked at her daughter's innocent and wide eyes. "You'll get to meet him someday, I promise. He loves you very much, just like I love you more than everything!" Sharpay started tickling her, and she screamed in glee.

"What does he look like?" she asked, her eyes widennig in curiousity once again.

"You have the same eyes as him," Sharpay whispered.

Aurora grabbed Sharpay's small mirror and looking at her eyes thoughtfully. "But what else does he look like?"

Sharpay removed her arm from around her daughter, and went into her room. When she came back, she had a scrapbook in her hands.

She opened it to the first page, and there, staring up at her, was Troy.

"That's my daddy?" Aurora asked in wonder, touching the picture lightly and carefully. It was a picture of Troy and Sharpay at Senior Prom. They hadn't gone together, but they did have some pictures together. Sharpay nodded. "He's _very_ handsome," Aurora said in wonder, and Sharpay laughed a little. "And that's you?" Sharpay nodded. She hadn't looked at these pictures in a long time.

"What's his name?" she asked.

"Troy. Troy Bolton." Sharpay answered immediately. Aurora flipped the page.

"Who's that? He looks like _you_!" Aurora pointed to the next picture, of her and Ryan at the Prom.

"That's my twin brother, Ryan. He is…was one of my favorite people…and my best friend. He was always there for me, no matter what." Sharpay said softly, fingering the next picture, one of her, with Troy and Ryan on either side of her.

"What was my daddy like?" Aurora asked again.

"Well, he was very, very nice. He always cared about everybody else around him. He loved basketball. He was…unique. One in a million. Just like you," Sharpay grabbed Aurora and started to tickle her again.

"I wonder if he loves me," Aurora suddenly said very quietly. "He never sees me. Has he ever seen me?"

"Of course he's seen you." Sharpay lied. "Don't worry baby. You'll meet him someday, and you'll see just how much he loves you."

"Really?" Aurora asked. "I'll get to meet him someday?" She was suddenly very excited.

"Yes, and he'll tell you just how much he loves you. Someday."

That day never came.

o.O.o.o.O.o.

**Present Day**

"Sharpay?" Troy asked once she was finished eating.

"Yeah Troy?" She put her fork down. "That was the most delicious meal that I've ever had, thank you so much for taking me out. It's been a long time since I've been out on a date—well, since I've been out."

"It's been a while since I've been on a date too, Shar." Sharpay smiled brightened at the word date.

"Shar? I was wondering, if you wanted to…would you want to move back?" Sharpay's eyes met his, and although Troy knew that she was expecting this question, it was obvious that she didn't have an answer yet.

"I don't know Troy. I mean,"

"What would be hard about it?" Troy asked, anticipating her response. "You have nothing here. Come back. You can stay with me. You can be with me. Please." He whispered the last word.

Sharpay looked around, and thought. "I think…I think it's time to move on from this place," Sharpay whispered. She looked up at Troy and grinned.

"Troy?"

"Yeah Shar?"

"Just promise me one thing."

"Anything Shar. _Anything_."

"Promise you _won't _let go."

Troy looked up, took her hand in his, leaned forward, and kissed her. "_That_ I can do."

o.O.o.o.O.o.

**oh my god! ****Just the epilogue left! I can't believe that this story is coming to a close!**

**writing this story has been absolutely spectacular, and i love reading every single response that i've gotten. you readers and reviewers are absolutely AMAZING! and i love every single one of you! **

**this story is almost finished, and i'd love for it to end with such a positive response. so please review for me, and i'll try to have the epilogue up soon -- just in time for christmas! **

**thank you again to everyone who has stuck with this story for so long! review!!!**

**-amanda :)**


	15. Welcome to Wherever We Are

**disclaimer: still don't own it! even after christmas, how sad :(**

**big AN at bottom!!!**

**Chapter 15: Welcome to Wherever We Are**

**One Year Later**

**Sharpay's POV**

I looked in the mirror. My hair was down and curled, and it fell in ringlets down my back. I didn't have a lot of makeup on; some light pink eye shadow, a little mascara, some simple blush, and pink lipstick.

My hair and makeup were simple; my dress, however, was extravagant.

The silky white top was a low v-neck tank, embossed with pearls, diamonds, and lace designs, with a white diamond pendant sitting at the tip of the V. The skirt flowed out; the top layer of the skirt was hand-sew white lace, and the layer underneath that was ivory silk. My veil was also hand-sew lace, and had diamonds embroidered into it.

I looked _fantastic_. Like an angel.

And I should; it was, after all, my wedding day.

Gabriella came bursting into the room (her midsection _much_ bigger than normal, considering she was six months pregnant) with my brother (and her husband) Ryan at her side. Ryan was wearing a black tuxedo, and looked incredible.

Gabriella smiled warmly at me, and dashed to my side. Her dress was a light pink (of course, since I picked it out), and was very long and formal. The strapless top had white lace flowers embroidered into it, and the lace flowers trailed down to the bottom of the dress. It was very elegant, and she looked very beautiful (though not as beautiful as me; I had made sure of _that_).

Taylor and Chad came in soon after that. Taylor was wearing the same dress as Gabriella. Taylor squealed when she saw me.

"You look so _gorgeous_!" Gabriella yelled gleefully, and I couldn't help but smile. She hugged me tightly.

"Very pretty, Shar," Chad laughed.

Ryan came over next, and pulled me into a tight hug as well. "I love you sis; you look beautiful." Then he pulled away. "Are you gonna tell him?" He asked me.

"Today, after the ceremony," I promised. He nodded, and looked even happier.

"What are you telling him?" Gabriella demanded. "Tell me!"

"I'll tell you…some other time," I laughed. She looked very put out indeed.

"I hate you Shar," She said with a puss of her face, but at my expression of disbelief she laughed, and hugged me again.

Ryan grabbed my hand. "It's show time." He said, and I laughed.

I was ready to marry Troy.

I _had_ been ready to marry Troy for a long time.

But I still felt absolutely terrible that Aurora wouldn't be here. She had wanted to meet Troy, and I loved her so much.

And even though Troy had never met her, I knew that he loved her too. He thinks that I don't know how often he looks at the few pictures of her that I have, and the expressions of love and regret in his eyes when he sees them tells me all that I need to know.

I smiled as we entered the small ceremony, with our few close friends here.

Ryan was walking me down the aisle when I saw Troy.

He looked abso-fucking-lutely unbelievable!

As I got up to him and Ryan kissed my cheek, he grabbed my hand and whispered "You look incredible. Saying you look beautiful would be a total understatement."

I smiled at him. "You look pretty damn incredible yourself."

I looked deep at Troy, and he smiled warmly at me, and in that smile I knew that, for the final time, I was forgiven, and so was he. We had both made so many mistakes, but that was over now.

The ceremony was a blur to me. I stared into Troy's eyes, and he stared right back, and I suddenly knew what heaven was like.

Then it was time for the vows. Troy went first.

"Shar…I lost you once, and I knew the second that you left that letting you go was the worst mistake of my life. I couldn't help but hate you for leaving me, but I never stopped loving you.

"And then, after a tragedy of your mother's death, you came back. And you looked so different than I imagined you. You were the picture perfect woman…or, at least that was the façade that you put up. It took me only a couple of hours to realize that you had walls up, and I so desperately wanted to break them down.

"So I found out a lot about you, and I heard about your past.

"But then, after some more time, I realized that, although your face may be of the most picture perfect woman I've ever seen, your life was far from that. You had layers and layers of walls up, and everytime I broke one down I found out more and more of the disturbing life you had led for the five years you were gone from me.

"And then, you told me something that made me want to leave you forever and never look back. But, I realized that I had still loved you after five years of not seeing you, and that you were slowing but surely becoming the person I was living for.

"So I came back, and it was the second best decision of my life. The best decision was asking you to be my wife.

"Shar, I love you so much. You are my sun, my moon, my stars, and my whole sky. You are the single reason that my heart beats, and I know that as long as you are by my side, I can do anything, be anything. But I'll never want or need anything or anybody else as long as you are by my side. Sharpay Evans…I love you."

To say I was crying would be an understatement. I was practically bawling my eyes out, ruining my makeup, and probably making a total fool of myself.

I knew I should have gone first with my vows.

"Troy…" I started, smiling at him. "Our lives have been one hell of a rollercoaster, don't you think? Everything seems to be made harder for us, and I know that when I was little, I didn't think my fairy tale would have quite so many problems.

"But, of course, I never factored in that the only reason I would ever need a fairy tale was for my Prince. And boy, did I ever get my Prince.

"You saved me from myself, from the burning hell that I was falling into fast, and I pulled me out. But, not only did you save me, you gave me the best gift of my life, and the gift that I had been wishing for since I was thirteen years old: you.

"We've had our problems, probably a hell of a lot more problems than either of us ever expected. But we came through; we pushed through, and I know that being with you is worth everything in the world, because you _are_ my world.

"You know me better than everyone else in the world. You know when you need to let me be alone, and when I need you by my side. You make me smile when I'm feeling terrible. My life, my purpose in life, is intertwined with yours, and it has been since the moment we met.

"This past year with you has been like living someone else's life, and I can't wait to be with you forever.

"Troy, you are my soul mate, my love, my best friend, my savior…and my Prince Charming."

I barely noticed anything besides Troy's incredible smile as I looked up at him, my Prince, my savior.

I heard him say "I do," and quickly said "I do!" as well, since I might as well have been in a totally different world with only Troy and myself.

"You may kiss the bride."

And Troy lifted my veil, wiped away the tears on my face, and kissed me with so much passion that I was completely lifted off my feet as I wrapped my arms around his neck.

This was the _best_ moment of my entire life.

o.O.o.o.O.o.

After the ceremony, when Troy and I were in the limo going to the hotel for the reception, I grabbed Troy's hands and looked into his eyes.

"Troy?" I whispered.

"Yes, Mrs. Bolton?" He drawled, laughing at the sheer smile on my face from that name.

"I need to tell you something really, really important." At the look of shock (and slight fear) on Troy's face, I added hastily "But good important. _Really_ good important."

"Yeah Shar, you can tell me anything."

I looked him in the eyes and kissed him passionately on the lips.

Then, as our lips pulled slightly apart, I pressed my forehead against his, and whispered "We've had the best year. Good times, bad times, okay times. But we've definately pulled through all the crap that's been thrown at us.

"And now we're getting a second chance. We're going to have a baby."

o.O.o.o.O.o.

**Wow. I absolutely cannot believe that I finished this story already! **

**i really want to say THANK YOU!!! to any and all readers (and especially reviewers!!!) of this story. it's become reallly successful, and i'm so proud of the story. i'm excited each and every time i get a review, and i want to say thanks for supporting this story from the beginning to the end! ****you guys are SPECTACULAR! you guys make writing this totally worth it, and i love every one of you:)**

**this story ended on a positive note -- but also a really big cliffhanger!!! who knows? if i get a positive response for a sequel, i'll probably write one! (hint hint REVIEW!!!!! hint hint)**

**i've got a really awesome idea in my head now, and i can't wait to start writing it. it's a drama, but more of a comedy-sitcomish drama, rather than the drama of this story. hopefully that story will have just as much success as this one has had!!! **

**and if i get a positive response for a sequel, who knows? you might just see that popping up some time next year, along with my new story!**

**also, i have the picture of Sharpay's wedding dress, and i'm gonna put it up in my profile soon (just in case you care, lol)**

**REVIEW!!! just one last time! so many people have this on favorites or alert, and if all you guys could review for the end, i'd reallyyy LOVE it!!!!!! i really want to know your opinion on this chapter, and/or the whole story in general (and the idea of a sequel!)**

**thank you again to everyone who has stuck with this story for so long! review!**

**-amanda :)**


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